Flames of Legacy
by TegzTsinelas
Summary: AU. They were chosen since their birth to become the Jinchuuriki of the Tailed Beasts and Naruto was one of them. some saw the responsibility as a curse, some saw it as a blessing, but Naruto could only see a nine tailed giant fox looking for help in retrieving their long forgotten Legacy.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Well hello there old and new readers. First off, I would like to thank you for your support in my old story 'Wills of Legacy', as you might know this is the revised version, the hopefully better and more organized story than my previous one. And forgive me is there are some errors in the spellings.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or KHR.**

**P.S. I need some help! -Looking for someone who is willing to Beta this for me~**

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><p>Long ago, in the time where Egyptians worship the Sun God, where Greeks fear the wrath of Zeus and where the Empire of Rome stood gloriously above its people. It was an age where humans flourished through their ideas and philosophies, advanced through their wondrous inventions and technologies. It was an age of prosperity and perhaps with a small nudge to the right direction, humans would reach the peak of their potential, a potential that will change the future drastically...<p>

...However, war happened.

Blood has been shed, tears flowed in grief and despair and dignities trampled into the dirt. All of these, genocide and mass destruction happened in honor of the banner humans held above their head. As the time continued to flow unyieldingly, religions propagated, cultures conquered one another and it resulted to endless conflicts that continued to appear, giving more fire to the burning pit called war. Because of this, the potential of the humans has been long lost, hidden beneath the deaths of the defeated.

It was a potential for human evolution, a potential that was lost...

Yet found at the same time...

* * *

><p>Peace...<p>

That was the only thing he can describe the situation right now. Three millennias... He idly noted, three thousand years and peace still reigns in their country, no war nor conflicts has shed a blood that leads to pain. Granted that it might be due to the yearly competitions they held as an act to show their talents and maybe release some pent up energies against one another, besides it's a good way to pass some time. Nonetheless, this peaceful era was an era he would willingly protect, the laughter and joy of his people and the lively countenance of the country was more than enough of a reason.

He released a soft sigh as he gazed at the chamber before him, this place has been rebuilt/redesigned after each successor sat on their throne, it ended as tradition of some sort as each of the surpassing generation added and replaced something. But to be honest, he was rather fond of the design his predecessor made with the chamber. Thus he decided that the room will not be rebuilt until something came up on his mind, after all his mother has a knack for perfection when it comes to beauty.

The chamber was -to be blunt- huge, with high ceilings and wide open windows, it was almost comparable to the recently made St. Peter's Basilica in Italy_, almost- _since the chamber was just that, a chamber. Not to mention that this is the _third _largest room in the vicinity, with more than a hundred pairs of chrome coated pillars as a support, half a hundred of ridiculously wide windows, a million plus of marble tiles and tons worth of textile for curtains, it's a wonder how the place could be manage to be always clean.

At the creation of the chamber, volunteers were hard pressed in maintaining the visage of the room. It was only fifty years after that they found a solution... It was simple and too elementary that his ancestors were embarrassed for not using it sooner. It was seals, runes if you will, they were primarily used for human needs, combat and storage, but definitely not for cleaning. It was just too mundane to use seals for such simple work that it was simply dismissed as a thought. However, when you are tasked to clean just even ten windows, which would take twenty hours -mind you- to finish or spend fifty years creating seals for cleaning, then the answer was already around the room. From the arches in the ceiling, to the window panes and pillars, you won't find even a single inch that was not carved with seals. It was just an added bonus that the seal masters made it so that the runes would be carved in a pattern, creating distinct images throughout the chamber, almost like a painting.

The chamber was truly a magnificent sight, one that he would always boast to his fellow leaders when they held a meeting. His musings were unfortunately cut off as he felt someone approaching the chamber and despite the hastiness he felt from the incoming figure, it would take a minute for the person to get to his throne.

"Lord Kurama!" A voice shouted, followed by the loud bang of the twenty feet door against the wall.

Now named, Kurama straightened in his seat. He felt a sense of urgency from the single call, adding to that that this was the first instance a messenger was harried enough to break their protocols.

Hurried footstep echoed through the walls and not a second later a man appeared from the shadows, his breath was haggard and sweat damped his uniform. With a swift movement the man knelt before him, head bowed down and right arm placed across his chest.

Kurama, gave the man a moment to regain his breathing, his eyes stared at the scroll on the man's left hand and Kurama felt dread pooling in his stomach.

"Rise." Kurama commanded and the man stood up in accordance.

"Lord Kurama, a message from the Ánemos Country*." The man said, as he presented the scroll.

'_Á__nemos? What is Shukaku planning now?'_ Kurama thought, the leader of the Ánemos was like an annoying younger brother to him, a deranged, prank loving younger brother. He took the offered scroll with some hidden hesitancy, but the moment he saw the seal etched at the center of the scroll he paused and the feeling of dread increased twofold.

"You're dismissed..." Kurama said and watched the man hurry back to his post, he would rather be alone if his feelings were right.

The second the door was closed, he opened the scroll and read its contents, only to be thrown harshly against the floor the second he finished reading the message.

"Goddammit!" Kurama exclaimed. Anger, sorrow and confusion raged across his face. Long red hair danced behind him like fire, his nails grew longer in a claw like manner, drawing blood from his fisted hands and his red eyes darkened giving out a feral look as his pupils narrowed.

'_Shukaku can't be dead... He's a holder! No one was stupid enough to attack a leader... And what did they meant that the body was not found?' _The red haired leader thought, desperately containing the anger he was feeling.

He took half an hour to compose himself, breathing out his frustrations with a sigh as he comb his red hair. His mind raced through all the possibilities of having a traitor in their country, it was a notion that added another bout anger inside him, the reason that peace reigned in their country was because of balance. All nine great countries hold an equal standing with one another, they are the holders the Wills of Flames, a legacy that was passed down from their ancestors. It was a gift that must be held with responsibility, a responsibility that is only fit for a leader... a Kage.

However, if there is an instance of sudden loss -_death_- of a Kage, then the other eight holders are responsible to contain the Flames until the successor is deem fit to wield it. But the longer the Flames is without a human container the balance would become unstable and it can lead the world in chaos. That is why the Kages would chose their successor after fifteen years into their term and from then on their apprentice would be taught all of the knowledge about their legacy until the Hokage will retire. But Shukaku was two years away from choosing his heir, with him dead and body -_the legacy_- nowhere to be found, the Ánemos Country will fall into ruins and the balance maintained by the holders will become unstable. It was a disaster that would grow in magnitude is left alone.

"Dammit..." He whispered a curse and bit his thumb.

He pressed the bleeding appendage on one of the seals in the throne's armrest and watched as the rune glowed. Seconds later, mists appeared before him forming eight rectangular shapes in a half circle formation around him, slowly silhouettes formed until the image began to clear up as the seconds passed. This was the first time Kurama see his fellow Kages with a subdued emotion, the red haired Kage assumed that they received the despairing news. Shukaku was one of the holders and all of them saw each other as an extended family. It is a hard hit to them when they found out his death and disappearance. However, responsibility must come first, their grief and sorrow would come later.

"I take it, you received the message..." Kurama said in a soft voice and glance at one of the empty 'screens'.

"Yes..." Saiken answered. She was the Kage of the Poryadok* Country, her long pale purple hair was in disarray and her pale blue eyes were stained with tear tracks. Saiken is one of the Kages that were close to Shukaku because of their age and there were rumors of the Ánemos' Kage courting her in these past months, a rumor that might held some truth if the tears held more meaning than sadness.

"This act of transgression is unacceptable!" A man in his late forties announced, the banging of his fist against the table echoed throughout the connection. Wisps of red aura began to form around him, his dark grey eyes became more feral and his short red hair began to grow. The man's name is Son Goku the Kage of the Fuoco* Country, he is the oldest of the group and was like a mentor to all of them when it comes to the dealings of their country.

"Calm down Son." A man with the features of an albino said in a soft voice. His long white hair was tied in a ponytail and his red eyes stared unblinking. Kokuo is the most unsociable among them, but somehow found a comrade to sympathize with Kurama when both of them are the ends of Shukaku's annoying tendencies. He is the Kage of the K'aosi* Country and a voice of reason when things turn childish during a meeting. "Raging your frustrations out would not do anything. What we need is to find the traitor and deal with him accordingly."

"I agree." Matatabi answered, her pale skin clashed contrasted greatly against her long black hair, her deep blue eyes gained a more feline look as the seconds continue to pass by. "I recently gathered some news about the current investigation in Ánemos..."

The brunette paused as she bit her finger drawing out blood and stamped her finger against seal. A puff of smoke from a similar seals in all of the Kages throne suddenly appeared revealing a an indigo folder. The Karas* Country lead by Matatabi is a neighbor of sorts with the Ánemos, she is skilled when it come to information gathering and the one who usually called for a meeting when it concerns the happening outside.

"... And it seems the seals in Shukaku's chamber manage to record the conversation before he was... Indisposed." She continued.

"What?" A man with an eyepatch asked, bewildered. "How did the traitor got him alone? Shukaku's chamber was one of the most visited one compared to ours." He added.

Everyone glanced at Isobu, he was a stout man with short grey dreadlocks, his right eye is hidden behind an eyepatch, while the remaining red one was telling his state of confusion. The man is the Kage of the Mizu* Country, he was in his late thirties making him the second oldest of the holders.

Matatabi hid a wince. "He was caught off guard..."

"How?" Kurama asked, he already suspected that it involves one of his little brother's illness.

"It was during one of his bouts of insomnia." The brunette explained.

"I was right then..." The red head muttered.

"It would be better if we hear what the record says." A green haired female suggested, her dark brown eyes were hidden behind the glint of her glasses. She was Chōmei the Hokage of the Dàdì* Country, which is one of the power houses of their nation due to their specialty in tactics and strategy.

Matatabi sighed silently and nodded. She dabbed her half healed wound on a seal, the 'screen' dimmed a little as the record began to play.

"_Come out, don't bother hiding on there..." _

A tired yet familiar voice said in a clipped tone , the Kages immediately recognized it's owner. It was Shukaku's. There was a sudden sound of feet landing in a distance and an unfamiliar voice entered the conversation.

"_**As expected of one of the holders..."**_

"_Who're you?"_

Kurama hid a snort, it was sad yet entertaining at the same time when you hear someone being subjected to one of Shukaku's bout of rudeness.

"_**Someone who happens to pass by... Although I have a question for you, oh wise Hokage."**_

"_Well then, 'someone' I'll humor you."_

This time a snort echoed beside the recording and the unfortunate owner of the noise received some well placed glares from his comrades. Kurama glanced at Gyuuki, who gave a sheepish apology. The Kage of the Rayo* Country was, in a sense an eccentric older brother towards his juniors mainly him, Saiken, Matatabi and Shukaku. He was a tall muscular man with a very tanned complexion that clashes greatly with his pale blond goatee, -which seems to overcompensate for the baldness of its owner. Gyuuki was eccentric in a sense that he has some crazed obsession with poems and has some rhyming ticks in his dialogue.

"_**That legacy of yours..."**_

"_How-"_

"_**...If I take it. What will happen to you?"**_

The question brought alarm to all of the Hokages, they did not even have a chance to voice out their confusion when a sudden clash of a steel hitting something soft echoed from the recording. The sounds of an ongoing battle continued, half of the Kage listened with rapt attention and the other half has their mind running with hundreds of thoughts.

A loud thud erupted in the recording followed by a strained groan. Kurama hope that it was the traitor.

"_You- What are you planning!?"_

Shukaku's voice shouted, voice strained as his effort of standing up can be heard through the recording.

"_**Oh, nothing much... Just curious. I heard that legacies of yours has the power to evolve humans..."**_

"_So what of it?"_

"_**...I want it."**_

There was another bout of fighting until the tell tale of sign of a power being released thrummed through the recording. Kurama narrowed his eyes, it seems that Shukaku revealed his flames, however the more he think about the traitor the he less he think the man being one, he is more of an intruder based on the snippets of conversation in the recording. Which in this case, their country is being compromised by either an individual or an organization.

"RAAAHHH!"

"_**Hoo, what's this? Interesting... It seems that flames of yours can heal injuries. Tell me, are there any more abilities in those flames?"**_

"_..."_

"_**Not speaking are w-"**_

The man was suddenly cut off as a sound of him being punch echoed. Kurama was satisfied when he heard a bone break and the fight continued. It seems that the offense went to Shukaku as the sound of shifting sands can be heard from the recording. One of the skill that was well known from the Ánemos' Kages is the complete control over the sand-like particles, from gold dusts to regular sand and even gun powder, each one varies depending on the person's skill set. It was proclaimed as the strongest defense during a battle, and an unrelenting offense when used correctly against an enemy. But when the sand-particles are infused with a flame it becomes a force of nature.

The Flames of Propagation, one of the two legacies that is being passed down in the Ánemos Country, has the ability to propagate, to multiply, any object at the person's will. If assimilated to even a pinch of sand the resulting density would be equal to five cubics of of the object. The more the user will propagate, the more it will overpower the enemy.

The battle continue to rage on, broken glass and cracked cements echoed throughout the recording like a twisted background music. Kurama could only wonder why no one checked the area, the guards and the staffs would be likely the one to check up the loud noise.

"_Tsk, I would never thought that the seals would be used against me."_

"_**Against you? Hardly."**_

There was an echo laughter as the intruder replied.

"_**It took me a long time to copy that single seal. 'Dome of Silence'... that's the name, I think. But alas, my handwriting is not as fluent as your seal master and thus we seemed to have an audience around our stage."**_

"_I'm surprised to hear something so humble out of that mouth of yours. Nevertheless, you wont live long enough to see it broken."_

"_**Me? Dead? I'm afraid you're mistaken, oh powerful Hokage. If you're too busy fighting that bout of insomnia of yours you'll find something interesting..."**_

"_What do you mean...- GAH!"_

Kurama leaned forward in his seat, noticing that his fellow Kages gained an alarmed look. There was pained grunt followed by a distinct sound of Shukaku throwing up.

"_Haa... What... ugh... D-did you d-do?"_

"_**You could say that it's a parasite... You were so focused on attacking me that you didn't recognize the device I slipped in your sand."**_

"_W-what's happening?... argh!"_

"_**Oho, It seemed that prolonged usage of that Flame of yours quickened the process. Now, now don't be stubborn, the device is absorbing the flames in a container. It is very similar to that of your containers your used, but my device seems to be giving you some side effects... Nasty ones. "**_

Another bout Shukaku vomiting echoed in the recording, Kurama glances at Saiken who is trying to hide her tears.

"_Why.. Haa.. Are y-you doing this?"_

"_**For ten years I have searched for the Ancient Legacy, the legacy that was said to be a gift given by the gods and holds the power to the next line of evolution for the human race. Ten long years, I spent uselessly going after the whispers of your legacy's tales, I nearly gave up. Fortunately, I found a very unique stone carving in one of my expeditions in the Valley of Kings and it was there, that I found a shard of truth about your Hidden Kingdom, or Kingdoms per se. I admit I was greatly surprised about finding out that there are nine of you out there who contained this Flames of Legacy. Nine more flames to obtain."**_

"_B-bastard! Raaahhh!"_

Kurama became apprehensive as he _felt _the roaring flames through the recording. He assumed that fully releasing the flames would over power the device and hopefully reabsorb the contained flames. Although Shukaku can release his hold on his sand for a moment to filter out the hidden container, but that would leave him defenseless, and searching the device in the sea of sand would take too much time and not to mention tedious. Kurama could only hope that the side effects is not too severe.

"_I will not stand hearing your incessant dialogue! This is __**our **__Legacy! This is __**our**__ right!"_

"_**Oho..."**_

The Kages expected another bout of fight, however what they heard was disconcerting. Silence, not a breath nor a shift in the sand was heard. Some of those who listened glanced at Matatabi, who gave a a brief affirmation that the recording is still active. Seconds after a loud thud of a body falling on the floor and was echoed by the shifting of sands lingered softly.

"_**Ara, you didn't need to interrupt. I was getting to the good part."**_

"**We're running out of time. The Rune Division will break the dome any second now."**

"_**Your device seems to be broken though."**_

"**It's a prototype what do you expect? Now, hurry up and get the Hokage. You distracted him enough to give me an opening, he'll be conscious for at least twelve hours."**

"_**Yes sir. Although, how long would it take to get the Legacy out of him?"**_

"**A year at most, we can't attack the other holders with just prototypes. The reason we attacked him, was because he was the holder of the one tails."**

"_**You just want him to be a some lab rat for your experimentations wont you."**_

"**And that."**

"_**Heh, as long as I get the flames in the end..."**_

.

.

.

The record ended with silence, none of the Kages made a sound as the tension rose in the air. It was nearly three minutes when one of them finally gave out a reaction. A loud crash and a anguish shout blasted from Gyuuki's connection, the wooden table was shredded into splinters as the fists of the Rayo Kage continued to pound his frustration out. Horns began to grow at the sides of his head and his skin began to slowly turn brown.

Kurama watched the destruction with a stony face, everyone has their own way of handling their feelings, and Gyuuki is the kind of person who lets his fists talk rather than speaking his emotions trough words. He eyed, the rest of the Kages were not surprised at the dark look everyone gained, even Kokuo whose the near stoic one of the holders, began to show some of his feral nature.

"Gyuuki, enough. We need to plan out our next move..." Chomei said in a calming voice.

"Give me a minute..." Gyuuki replied hoarsely as he sat down on his throne, which was fortunate enough to survive the destruction. The rest of the Kages waited for their fellow leader to calm down, some of them also used the time to reign in their emotions, their once feral looks returned to normal.

"The first course of action we must make." Kurama started. "Is to filter out our staffs, there is a possibility that our security is compromised already."

"It'll take a month to secure our staffs and not to mention our forces." Matatabi replied.

Kurama agreed with a nod. "We must be thorough, I'll come up with a new security seals in the next three days and I'll sent some of my Sealing Masters to update your runes."

"Very well, we must start this immediately." Son Goku stated, none has disagreed. "Kurama, Saiken and Matatabi, although this is sudden but I need you to choose you successors. It'll be an assurance just in case..."

"Are you saying we're not strong enough to defend our position?" Matatabi asked with a slight edge in her voice.

"Matatabi, stop." Kurama said with hidden scolding tone. "We are strong, that's a fact. However, this is the first time our Legacies are being threatened, and we don't want to take any chances in this situation."

"...Understood." the female replied and sighed. "Six months, I'll find a successor by the end of the given time."

"I already have an eye for a successor." Kurama added, getting and approved nod from the senior.

"As do I, although there is a competition on who'll gain the title." Saiken followed. It was not rare for some Hokages to have two possible successor, and the only way for them to determine the proper one was to give them a test. One given by other Kages to avoid favorites and biased views.

"Good." Isobu commented. "On the other note, we need some one to take charge of Ánemos.." The one eyed Hokage murmured the last word, fully knowing the pain they are currently feeling.

"I'll go, I'm retiring the following year, my successor is currently starting to take up minor duties in my country."

Kurama, knew that they were walking around the subject of Shukaku's disappearance, none of them are ready yet to acknowledge that one of them, one of their family is taken and subjected into experimentation.

"We'll find him..." Kurama announced, his voice edged with determination. "We _will_ find him and eradicate those bastards."

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><p>Ten years, ten years long years of battle, of war and Kurama was drowning in bitter resentment at their current predicament. It started with the abduction on their fellow holder and Kage, Shukaku. They were fortunate enough to rescue him from the clutches of their enemy after a year of unrelenting search, but they were too late. by the time they found him, the Ánemos Kage was drowned in insanity from the numerous experimentation, they had taken his Flames, leaving him the half of his Legacy. The Tailed Beasts, the original holders of the Flames and the ancient beings who gave them the potential to evolve and unite their country for the sake of peace.<p>

But now...

... The peace, the unity, was gone, drowned in the echoes of war and bloodshed. The lost of flames had shaken the balance that they once swore to protect and maintain.

Saiken was the second to lost her flames, followed by Son Goku who was vulnerable during the ascension of his successor, taken by surprise when their enemy took the opportunity to steal his flames during the transfer. Isobu's flames was also taken, when he was protecting his successor from being killed before him. Chomei, was the most recent one, she was in the front lines, defending her country from being taken over.

"How is she?" Matatabi asked as she glanced at the sleeping form of the Dàdì Kage, they, Saiken, Son and Isobu, were fortunate enough to live the ordeal of their flames being taken.

"She is stable." Kurama replied. Kokuo, Gyuuki, Matatabi, and him are the only one left with their flames. "How about the others? And Shukaku?"

"They are holding a meeting for our defense, I heard that they are planning to gather all of us in Ánemos together with our joint forces..." Matatabi replied. "The residents of Ánemos will be evacuated in our country, we don't want to shed anymore innocent blood in our battle... Shukaku is still the same, although Saiken manage to get some semblance of humanity from him."

"Slow progress, but a progress nonetheless." Kurama said. "So they're planning a last stand eh."

"Yes." Matatabi confirmed.

"Then I take it that our successors will be taking our mantles sooner than expected." Kurama added.

Their conversation drifted into silence as the two of them contemplated the future, however it was short lived as a knock interrupted their musings.

"Enter." Kurama said, fully knowing the person behind the door.

Arashi Uzumaki entered, Kurama's successor and future Kage of the Toubiyon* Country. A boy- _man_ Kurama reminded himself- nearing his mid twenties, with a hair as red as the setting sun, and purple eyes that held the burden of war and death. Kurama lamented the innocence that was taken from him, it was inevitable given the sudden submerging into war.

"The Kages are looking for you, Lord Kurama, Lady Matatabi." Arashi announced.

Kurama nodded. "Please look after Chomei."

"Yes sir." His successor replied, somewhat cheekily.

"Brat." Kurama replied and he ruffled the hair of his successor, he was glad that Arashi retained some of his cheeriness from his teenage years, it is one of the constants he never want to be gone in his current life. "Matatabi, let's go."

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><p>Kurama was the only one left, Gyuuki, Chomei, Saiken, Kokuo, Son Goku, Isobu, Matatabi and even Shukaku were all dead. Kurama scanned the area with an empty gaze, craters of all sizes laid all throughout the battle ground, burnt bodies littered everywhere, and drowned corpses lied in a dog pile above their pool of blood. It was a testament to a war, a battle that seems to be never endless.<p>

The once crowned castle of gold lay in ruins and Ánemos was no more.

One month, that was all time needed to destroy a country. It was inevitable, one battalion experimented flame users against another battalion of their country's best soldiers, five stolen Flames against four Holders and five Tailed Beasts. They have power on their side and the enemy has their numbers.

Shukaku was the first to die, he saved protected Saiken with his sand against the continued onslaught of the enemy, leaving him open to receive a sword to the heart. Saiken soon followed, seeing her loved one die before her made her snap. She took her beast form and began to freeze a fifth of their enemy in an unrelenting force, by the end of the week she exhausted herself and was left open to a shower of arrows.

Son Goku and Isobu, the senior Kages combined their powers and became a well oiled killing machines, destroying hundreds by the hour. However their old age caught up to them and they were over powered by the huge numbers of the enemies. Their body, was littered with cuts and bruises, their face nearly unrecognizable. Isobu was the most unfortunate, he died by beheading.

Chomei, lead their battalion shouting orders non stop day after day, until her voice box was destroyed, leaving her mute, and without any communication their forces became disorganized. They half of their battalion, distressed Chomei began to heal those who are in critical condition, exhaustion took place leaving her hopeless against an ambush. In a last act of hope she sacrificed herself, taking a quarter of the enemy forces with her.

Gyuuki, Matatabi and Kokuo, formed a team, giving the the title, 'Demons of the Triangle'. With their Beast forms they became a relentless force, destroying the enemies by the thousands. By the fourth week, the enemy attacked, prepared with poisons, bombs and heavy artillery to counter the trio. Their end was inevitable, Kokuo was the first to fall, unknowingly inhaling poison when he was breathing out his mist. Matatabi soon followed, her agility was hindered by exhaustion and left her body open to bullets and bombs. Gyuuki was the last one to be defeated, with his eight tentacle like tails, destroyed all the machines without a pause, receiving grave injuries along the way. By the time Kurama decided to help after killing the rest of the enemy battalion, he was too late. Gyuuki died of blood loss.

And Kurama... Kurama was the only one left alive in their family. The last man who was burdened with the hope of his comrades, hope that this war would end.

.

.

.

"Then there is one..." Domino -Kurama finally knew the bastard's name- announced with glee, his happy demeanor is not affected by the fact that his partner in crime is dead a few feet away from him.

Kurama did not reply, too busy to hold on to his consciousness. The enemy had taken his Flames from the recent fight, rendering his healing capabilities -one of the factors that let him live long enough- useless. Now, he was only left with the Tailed Beast and half of his Chakra, but against the combined force of the stolen Flames he would frankly die by second he attacks. However, he still has one last trick behind his sleeves.

_'Ten minutes... Kurama.'_ The red head thought as he slowly stood up. _'Just ten minutes of staying awake, then you can get your sleep.'_

"Ah, still have some energy left eh?" Domino commented as he opened his palm, a burst of orange flame appeared. "I admit, that your flames has the most wonderful warmth, not too cold, not too hot."

Kurama snarled at the bout of disrespect, his canines grew as well as his nails as he slowly turned into his Tailed Beast appearance. Nine flowing tails burst from his backside, his ears began to elongate, and in no time Kurama turned into a giant nine tailed fox. He roared into the heavens, releasing his sorrow and agony, leaving only anger in his being.

It was a sight that made Domino step back in fear, the first time doubt began to seep in his heart.

**"You made a grave mistake, human."** Kurama said, his voice filled with hate.** "Know that the reason none of us contains all the Legacies is because balance must be maintained, no one is above nor below another. And you, whose heart is taken by greed will receive the consequence of your actions..."**

Nine gigantic tails sped towards the enemy in a blinding speed, all of them intending to strike every vital points. Kurama continued his onslaught, never giving the enemy a fraction of rest, nor the time to plan out an escape. What he just said to the enemy was a bluff, he just needs to distract him for ten minutes while he create a seal that reverses the process of containing theflames. He was not sure about the outcome of this one time experiment since this is the first and last time he would use this seal. He could only hope that it will never go to the hands of someone like Domino.

Five minutes... The enemy managed to freeze two of his tails.

Three minutes... Three tails blinded by multiple chains.

One minute... Two more tails were severed.

'...NOW!'

With a pained shout Kurama activated the gigantic seal, trapping the unaware Domino in the middle of the array.

"What are you doing!?" Domino shouted in alarm.

"Taking back what was never yours." Kurama said as turned back into his human form, he walked towards the frozen enemy, leaving bloodied footsteps along the way.

He held his hand above the man's head, palm glowing with a single array. Without a pause he slammed the array, completing the sealing process. He cursed in alarm as he watched Domino suddenly held his arm, Kurama caught a glimpse of a seal on the man's palm and not a second later he felt a disturbance in his chakra flow and he was unexpectedly blasted off from his position.

Kurama was fortunate enough to still have the strength to flip himself in the air and land on his feet, he staggered a few moment as he tried to regain his balance, however he was past his limit and he decided to just lie down and gaze at the rising flames. The screeching of Domino gave him enough idea to know that he was burning from the sudden release of flames, but he was too tired to move his head and watch the screaming man, and so Kurama continued to stare at the now rainbow colored sky until his eyes caught nine strange circular objects rotating in the sky. He knew that it must be the remnants of their Flames, he raised his arm trying to reach their stolen Legacies but exhaustion took place and arms fell back to the earth. The red head could only watch helplessly as the orbs began to ascend towards the sky in different direction until it disappeared from his line of sight.

He felt relieved and frustrated at the same time, their Legacy are still within their reach and it wont be long before they will be once again complete.

His tired eyes began to slowly close, his breathing became shallow, he idly felt the beginning of numbness in his limbs and the sluggish beating of his heart. Kurama knew that he was dying, but he felt content at the odd thought and with a last sigh, he welcome the slumber that escaped him far too many times.

_'Everyone... let's meet sometime in the future, neh?'_

* * *

><p><em>"Are you sure about this?"<em>

_"Yes, this is the only way we can pass down what is left of our Legacy to our children, our future."_

_"But... without the Flames to balance out the beast, the holders will be going insane"_

_"That is why, I added this little array here."_

_"What does it do?"_

_"When... when our time comes to an end, our souls will combine with the sacred beasts giving them some of our characteristics, in that way we can guide the future holders of our Legacy."_

_"But they will be scorned and become an outcast of our country, our people! Without a proper guidance and acknowledgement by the Kages, the true holders of the Legacies... Then-"_

_"I trust my successor to uphold our culture, as you will for the sake of your country."_

_"...But..."_

_"Matatabi...There is a reason why they will be called Jinchuuriki from now on."_

* * *

><p>~End of Prologue.<p>

**As for some clarifications, and please forgive me if there is an error in translation, I used google translator :) I also used the complete map of the elemental nations to pick out some countries.**

**Kurama- Sky(orange)-Whirlpool-Toubiyon(haitian)**

**Gyuuki-Lightning(Green)-LIghtning-Rayo(latin)**

**Chomei-Sun(Yellow)-Earth-Dàdì(chinese)**

**Saiken-Snow(pale blue)-Order-Poryadok(russian)**

**Kokuo-Mist(indigo)-Chaos-K'aosi(georgian)**

**Son Goku- Storm(red)-Fire-Fuoco(italian)**

**Isobu-Rain(blue)-Water-Mizu(japanese)**

**Matatabi-Night(black)-War-Karas(lithuanian)**

**Shukaku-Cloud(purple)-Wind-Ánemos(greek) **

* * *

><p><strong>There will be a slight change in the story line since there will two more spot for guardianship for the Snow and Night Flames. I'll take up some OC's -your suggestion of course- or any character from other animes as long as it fits the Vongola's craziness.<strong>

**I'll put up guidelines though, so please bear with me..**

**OC suggestion**

**Name; age; gender:**

**Reason:**

**Personality:**

_**Anime Character Insert:**_

_**Name & from what anime:**_

_**Reason:**_

_**Personality (in case if I'm unfamiliar with him/her):**_

**That's it! Review, suggestions, critiques, and even greetings are welcome.**

**PS. The more reviews the faster the update -it'll be a week at most-**


	2. Aftermath (Sequel to Prologue)

**A/N: Hello sorry for the long wait and sorry if the chapter felt hurried, I have a test on my major course this Monday and I don't what to make you wait any more. On a note, this chapter is sort of a sequel to the prologue, hope you don't mind the ramblings in there.**

**Anyway thank you for the reviews! I'll post my reply in here, for those who put my story in their favorite and follow list thank you! I love you guys! This story's response was waayy better that my old story.**

**Lady Arachne: Haku and Itachi would be perfect for the two positions, I'll be assuming that those two would in the Shinobi side. If you have any more suggestions of the Snow and night Guardian of the Vongola, Varia and Millefiore please feel free to review!**

**My Hopes and Dreams: This is a very tricky question... hehe just read to find out! (although it might be on the next chapter :)**

**Pain of the Immortals: Thank you for the praise...as for your suggestions thank you for the heads up and i**f you have any more suggestions of the Snow and Night Guardian of the Vongola, Varia and Millefiore please feel free to review!****

**Karlos1234ify: That was just a prologue... confusion would always be there, you can read my previous story if you like just to get the gist of my plot.**

**Disclaimer: KHR and Naruto will be never mine, but if someone wants to hand over Kakashi to me, I can die of happiness.**

**Note;**

_'thoughts'_

"normal conversation"

* * *

><p>Chapter 2:<p>

'Four hundred years, it's been four centuries since I assimilated with the Tailed Beast,... And two hundred years since I awoken from my slumber.' Kurama thought. 'A long time has passed since the war, our last stand against Domino, and the Flames of Legacy are still unfound.' He added with sour tone.

The seal manage to assimilate his soul with his tailed beast, however due to the Nine Tail's chakra, the assimilation has taken two hundred years for it to complete leaving him in a state of suspended animation. By the time he opened his eyes from a long sleep, he found out many changes since the last war from the eyes of his 'jailer'. For one, their country -_his country-_ is reduced to a mere village, granted that their country was small, but to reduce a wealthy and progressive country to to population of a mere hundred thousand was an act of near transgression.

He was angry and confused, Kurama can't believe that such mass exodus would -_did_- happen in his country. He scoured his jailer's memories and was aghast at what he learned. Not only the Toubiyon Country, but all of his comrade's country has their own mass exodus and he can't believe the reason why their people suddenly decided to migrate away from their homeland.

The moment he found out the prime reason of such phenomena, he was left speechless.

The Tailed Beast... the ancient beings that was once their protector and savior... Were the one who drove away it's people. The first destruction has happened ten years after the war, Shukaku's successor that was chosen by Son Goku and the One Tailed Beast's jinchuuriki, had gradually turned insane. Kurama knew that Shukaku's sanity was unstable but to affect the jailer in such a way, he knew that something is wrong with the seals he gave the Ánemos successor... Or it might be Shukaku's character has already been integrated and the seals were not strong enough to prevent the Tailed Beasts from affecting their jailer.

Kurama only felt guilt, Matatabi's word rang true and he feels he owe an apology to her. If he meet her in the future.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

"_Are you sure about this?" Matatabi asked, doubtful of what is being presented before her._

"_Yes, this is the only way we can pass down our Legacy to our children, our future." Kurama replied, the other Kages fully knowing insinuation behind his words._

"_But... Without the Flames to balance out the tailed beasts, the holder's will be going insane!" The female Kage replied in near panic._

_They recently found out that Shukaku's insanity was evoked by the loss of his Flames, and the experimentation had added the severity of Shukaku's mind. Isobu, Chomei, Son Goku and Saiken had some instances of eccentricity, not enough to be called insane but enough to make the other Kage's wary of their comrade's mental stability. The two seniors showed some sign of senility, although they can be a sign of their old age, while the two females strange tendencies, weirdly coincides with their 'monthly visitors'. The rest of the Kages doesn't know whether to be happy or not what little they gathered from them. It's a small blessing that the five of them still retains a sense of mind._

"_That is why, I added this little array here." The red haired said as he pointed to the middle of the seal. _

_It was simply as swirl, nothing significant to the eyes of Matatabi, but to some Kages who has some experience in sealing rose an eyebrow._

"_What does it do?" Matatbi asked after a moment of observation._

"_When..." Kurama paused, fully knowing that there might be truth in his words. "When our time comes to an end, our souls will combine with the Tailed Beasts giving them our characteristics, in that way we can guide the future holders of our Legacy"_

"_But they will be scorned and become an outcasts of our country, our people!" Matatabi quickly rebutted. "Without a proper guidance and acknowledgment by the Kages, the true holders of the Legacies... Then-"_

"_I trust my successor to uphold our culture, as you will for the sake of your country." Kurama cut her off, he is getting tired with this debate. Matatabi was the only one who was hesitant with his idea, glancing the sun and noted that it was already dark._

"_...But..." Matatabi tried to argue, but no words came out of her mouth. It was true that Kurama's solution to pass down their Legacy is the best and only choice due to their current predicament, however there are many disadvantage she can think of._

_One of them is that the seal cannot be tested due to the upcoming war, they can't waste any time for an experimentation, when the enemy gathers their forces. Second, is that their successors only has the knowledge of both their Flames of Legacy and the Tailed Beasts, but they don't have any knowledge how to handle the Tailed Beasts alone, with nothing to maintain the chakra's balance then the result would end in destruction._

"_Matatabi..." Kurama called out, snapping the female from her thoughts. "There is a reason why they will be called Jinchuuriki from now on."_

"_Power of Human Sacrifice." Isobu translated solemnly. "It's wrongfully fitting."_

"_Kurama." Kokuo said, getting the attention of the red head. "Can I have some clarification on what happens when we assimilate our souls with out Tailed Beasts?"_

"_Ah, that. If one of us dies, our soul will automatically begin assimilating with our Tailed beasts and will be transported to the seals within our successors. That's why there are two seals before you, one for our successors and the other for us." Kurama explained, getting a nod from Kokuo._

"_Are there anymore objections?" Chomei asked, receiving negative shakes of head. "Very well. Kurama, we will inform our successors of this news."_

"_Aa, I'll expect all successors will be ready to get the seal in three days time." The red head replied, as he watched the screens made of mists quickly disperse._

**_End_**

* * *

><p>The next one to have their Tailed Beasts go on a rampage was Saiken, followed by Son Goku, Isobu and Chomei. There was a moment of peace, where the people of the Kages began to rebuilt their lives form the sudden destruction made by their own Kages no less. It was then that doubt began to built in the hearts of their people, they were afraid and angered by what had happened, the deaths of their loved ones created a crack in the trust between the Kages and their own people.<p>

That connection was fully shattered when Kokuo, Matatabi and Gyuuki's Jinchuuriki lost their hold over their Tailed Beasts and caused a country wide mass killing in their own country. The aftermath was terrible, with so much blood and death the people began to migrate leaving their home country to start somewhere anew. At first the Kages did not allow any of their people to pass the border, but when they saw the eyes of their people begging and kneeling before them, the Kages relented, on the option that their memories regarding their country's whereabouts would be sealed and never to be spoken outside. After all, the Allied countries are hidden away from the eyes of the world.

Years after the mass exodus in all of the Allied Countries, the Toubiyon became center of their economy, being the country that was yet to have their jinchuuriki cause any destruction, Kurama's country became the beam that supported the others.

It was then that the Shinobi era began, it started with requests for help from the clans in the other country, from restoring buildings to escorting of the merchants. The requests continued to pile and nearly drowned Arashi with the amount of paperwork from the continuing flow. It was only with the suggestion of his wife that he started a project, one that would hopefully become the solution to the ever growing problem. He slowly began to convert his military force into a Shinobi force, creating a more variant force for their country. Instead of the usual patrols and catching minor criminals in the country, the Shinobi became the backbone of the country's economy. Taking requests one after another with success, regular patrols became a mission of sorts giving an erratic yet unpredictable defense, and the crimes lowered after Arashi created the ANBU (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai), composed of the elites in their old military, the ANBU became their only connection with the world outside. With missions, from infiltrating governments to assassinations of the high ranking members in the underground world, and even causing 'accidents' using their techniques to prevent any 'treasure hunters' in seeking their country. It was the one the necessary evil that Arashi had created.

The project became became a success and within a decade the Toubiyon's economy boomed, the other Allied Countries were quick to adapt the system and in no time the Shinobi era became the norm of their people. Clan families began to form, creating a variety of Shinobi that continued to strengthen their nation, thus the Toubiyon reached the peak of their growth together with their Allied Countries.

...Kurama was devastated to know that _he_ was the one to stop that ever growing progress.

It happened during the Ceremonial Transfer of the title of Jinchuuriki to the fourth successor, Namikaze Nero, the newly appointed Kage. All of them were apprehensive and nervous of the transfer, remembering the destruction caused by the Jinchuurikis in the other nations. They were hoping that it would result with the same outcome of their previous Kage and Arashi's successor, but it seems that fate had the notion that it was the time to awaken the sleeping Kurama.

The tailed beast awakened and rose havoc to country of Toubiyon, buildings were destroyed and deaths came one after the other. The Shinobi forces were hard press to contain the loose Tailed Beast, but with no knowledge of what to do they can only defend and save their people. It was only with the help Arashi, now retired and reaching his hundred and fifties due to their renowned vitality, that they resealed the beast inside his granddaughter, Uzumaki Mito. Arashi was devastated to do such an act, but with no one -_no adult_- was willing to become the sacrifice... except her. A teenage girl who wears her heart and her sleeve, kneeling before him, begging to seal the beast inside her just to stop the deaths of her comrades.

With a heavy heart Arashi complied, it had taken a day to subdue the raging nine tailed fox and seal the beast inside Mito. Only one day to destroy more than quarter of their country, like a déjà vu, a mass exodus happened within Toubiyon, civilians and people whose family died in the destruction migrated, willing to seal their memories of their homeland and the sorrow it brought.

Left with only half of their population, the Toubiyon began to rise up from their fall with the help of their Allied Countries, it was a tediously slow progress. Senju Megumi, Arashi's successor, is reaching her seventies and her age prevented her from making anymore strenuous tasks, thus affecting the regrowth of their economy. With her successor still in a coma, Megumi could only do what she is able to give. The people seeing their Kage in such a devoted state began to take action, they did not wait for their requests to be answered by the Shinobi, they began to built their homes by them selves and even volunteered in the hospital to help out the stressed medics.

This was the sight that Kurama saw the first time he opened his eyes, he begged for forgiveness for what he had unconsciously done, the deaths of his people and the lives he ruined, he screamed and wailed, but he was unheard by his jailer. Unsuccessful in communicating with Mito, Kurama decided to help his country with the only knowledge he can pass through Mito's dream.

Sealing.

It seems that the well known arts in his age began to deteriorate after the war, without his strict guidance, his students and seal masters became too casual and simple in their runes giving only rudimentary lessons to pass on to the next generation. Fortunately Arashi had taken up sealing, when he was still in Kurama's tutelage and began to pass down his knowledge in his family. A lucky situation in Kurama's eyes since he won't need to give the basics.

Years has passed and the Uzumakis became renowned for their sealing arts, with Mito leading as the Clan Head with her help, the Toubiyon had once again became the center of progress in the Allied Countries along with the guidance of Sarutobi Izashi, successor to Senju Megumi.

It was only during his resealing with Mito's great grand something niece -Kurama was just glad that nothing bad happened in those following years-, Uzumaki Kushina, a hundred and something years after his awakening, that he finally remembered the lost Legacies, he was so committed in helping his nation that he nearly forgot the reason he was assimilated with the Tailed beast in the first place, the time passed by so slowly in the seal that Kurama idly remembered the ascension of two Kages in the past, however he did took note of the recently appointed Kage, Namikaze Nagase who was already fifteen years into his tenure.

Once again Kurama tried to communicate with Kushina a year after the successful transferring, and once again Kurama found himself unable to make a strong connection a very similar thing happened in his previous holders, although he can send his messages in her dreams, it wont be enough to convey his reason. In the end, he resigned to his fate that it will be a very, _very_ long time until the Flames will be in their reach. Fortunately he was able to meet one of his fellow Tailed Beasts when Kushina visited a family friend in K'aosi, Kokuo's country.

Kurama was surprised, to say at least and confused at most, when he discovered who that person is. It was Kokuo, or he looks like Kokuo, one without the albino features. It was disconcerting to know that his proclaimed brother have a family, not to mention having an heir or even marrying for that matter. Kurama could only wonder how the albino manage to hide such secret during his tenure, it always ends up being a mystery when it concerns anything related to Hatake Kokuo.

The Kokuo look alike, is indeed the descendant of the said person. Without the albino appearance, Hatake Sakumo, the newly appointed Kage of the K'aosi Country and the current Jinchuuriki of the Five Tailed Beast, was a near carbon copy of his ancestor. Instead of the straight pale white hair, Sakumo has a mass of windswept silver hair. The once red eyes that Kurama easily remembered, is overlapped by a pair of storm gray one. Those were the only difference Kurama could make and the similarities were bountiful, from the facial features of the Kage, the posture and swiftness in movement, to the half lidded gaze that Shukaku had once fondly dubbed as 'lazy eyes', were one of the most noticeable features at first glance.

Although his confusion on lasted an hour when a familiar voice echoed in his 'jail'.

_'Kurama...'_ A monotonic disembodied voice echoed in Kurama's 'cage'.

_'Kokuo? Is that you?'_ The red head asked surprised that seal allowed communication between them.

_'Indeed.'_ Kokuo replied.

_'Ah, did you manage to make a connection with your holders?'_ Kurama asked with hope, if the others manage to speak with their jinchuurikis the faster they can search for their lost flames.

_'None as of yet.'_ Kurama visibly deflated at the answer.

_'Me too... This is frustrating... By the way, why is your descendant have your...'_ The red head asked changing the topic to his current curiosity.

_'Appearance?'_ Kokuo finished, knowing that Kurama's curiosity has no end. _'It's in the genes I suppose. All the males in the Hatake clan were always similar, it's one of the reasons why I never revealed my ancestry when the war started.'_

_'You could at least told me you're married.'_ Kurama replied sullenly, they continued with their talk changing topic after the other, it had been a very long time and the two proclaimed brothers would not admit it vocally but they missed their family.

The conversation of the two Tailed Beasts went unnoticed by their 'jailers' as they catch up with one another.

It turns out that Sakumo is Kushina's Kenjutsu instructor when she was little, being six years her senior, the man had mastered the art when he was thirteen years old and was proclaimed as a prodigy in that area, it was also one of the reasons why the previous K'aosi Kage chose Sakumo as his successor. But despite his fearsome skill in sword, he cannot escape from the endless teasing from his student, Kushina's reason for visiting his sensei was to congratulate the silver haired male on his engagement and the female red head took the opportunity to get her revenge from the months of sadistic training she went trough under him.

A week after the short visit, Kurama was again surprised when he manage to 'connect' with Kushina, but in hindsight it was an accidental discovery. It happened in one of the 'dates' of Kushina. Three days after their visit in K'aosi, one Namikaze Minato finally got his courage to court Kushina. The blond haired, blue eyed teen was the nephew of Namikaze Nagase, he was known for his skills in sealing -a plus for Kurama- and strategy in battles, some had said that he was on par with the Naras who were known for their genius minds. However, Kurama wasn't sure about those praises.

'_A date in a ramen stand? Really?'_ Kurama asked incredulously, the boy should really use his head when in comes to those situation.

But the second the two sat in front of the newly opened Ichiraku, Kurama took back what he had said as he saw Kushina devoured bowl after bowl of ramen without a pause, he forgot that the red haired Uzumaki was addicted to that food. It was the day Kurama gave the respect the boy deserved, not to mention his wallet. The dates continued and they always ate in the Ichiraku, by the fifth day Kurama felt that he is becoming a third wheel between the two, an invisible third wheel, but a third wheel nonetheless. He felt out of place during the dates, not that he can complain to his holder -since he still can't speak to Kushina-, but the feeling gave him ire. Half way during the date, Kurama began to mutter insults from the long dead Domino to the eccentric lineage of the Hatake clan, he was a quarter away from finishing his half hearted insult towards ramen, when Kushina suddenly stood up and questioned the customers who has the gall to insult the food of the gods.

Kurama could only blink at his holder, fully knowing that he was the only one who spoke the insult. It was then that he began to try speaking with Kushina again, when the girl is sleeping. The result was a success, instead of glimpses of images -which he repeatedly used to help Mito recreate his seals in the past- he can now convey his thoughts, granted that it was limited, but Kurama stayed positive. With this progress he can direct Kushina to meet the other Jinchuuriki's, he assumed that when Tailed Beast holders meet up, the stronger the connection will become with their Jinchuurikis, hopefully the time will come when all of them will gather in one place and start the search for their Flames.

True enough, Kushina took three years to meet the other Jinchuurikis and their connection became stronger after each meeting. When Kurama decided that it was time to meet the Uzumaki in his seal he was surprised at the red head's reaction.

* * *

><p><strong>Inside the Seal... A Flashback<strong>

'_Greetings, holder of the Nine Tailed Beast.' Kurama greeted as he watched the startled red head from the darkness. Over three hundred years of solidarity, the Kage turned fox decided to make a dramatic entrance, it won't hurt anybody if he raised his ego from time to time. He was about to continue his grand introduction when the Uzumaki interrupted._

_'That voice...' Kushina murmured. 'You! You're the one who insulted my ramen! Take back what you had said, 'ttebane!'_

_'...' Kurama was at lost at what to reply to that demand. '...You still won't let go of that? That was years ago!'_

_'Of course I won't! You insulted the food of the gods!' Kushina retorted as she crossed her arms, lavender eyes set in a glare as she faced the direction of the voice._

_'Well... I guess, I'm sorry?' Kurama asked uncertainly._

_Kushina nodded in acceptance. 'Anyway, where am I? And who are you?'She asked as she glance at her surrounding._

_'You're in the seal and I'm the Kurama, the Nine Tailed Beast.' Kurama replied as he walked out of the darkness, he hid a smirk as he saw the red head stepped back from his looming figure. This was the first time he compared his size to that of a regular human and he was surprised to see that the female was only as big as his toenail._

_'Y-you're the Beast?' Kushina asked as she looked at the humongous creature in front of her, a gigantic fox with a red orange fur that contrasted the dark linings on it's face, running from the creature's eye until his rabbit like ears. However what took most of attention was the nine swishing tails behind the fox, the tails that were said to cause earthquakes and tsunamis in just a second._

_Kurama eyed the fearful gaze of the female and let out a sigh, without a thought he began to reduce his size to that of a horse. The fear began to ebb away and only left wariness in the red head's body. 'Maa, don't be afraid. I would never hurt my holder in any form. I just want to meet you face to face.' He said, snapping the female out of her thoughts._

_'Then why did you destroy our country!?' Kushina asked remembering the tales that her Aunt Mito told her when the Beast was let loose. She was expecting an excuse of sorts or even a maniacal laughter from the fox but she was surprised to see the creature looked away, ears dropped in sadness and Kushina saw guilt in the eyes of the creature._

_Kurama looked away, trying to desperately push the guilt he repeatedly locked in the deep corners of his heart. 'It... is one of my greatest regret, one that I would truly sacrifice my reason of existence if I know that it would happen to my country...'_

_'What do you mean by that?' The red head asked, as she watched the sorrowful emotions passing by the creature's eyes._

_'It'll be better if I show you...' Kurama suggested as he walked forward. He gave a tentative step and was relieved that Kushina did not move, he stopped when he was a few feet before the girl. 'Do you trust me?'_

_Kushina did not reply, she was inwardly debating whether to trust the beast or deny his request. She was nervous and a bit of frightened, knowing that one wrong move and she would be six feet under, but during their short conversation she was very sure that the fox has been honest with his replies. In the end, she decided to give the beast a chance and she was curious anyway._

_'Yes.'_

_Without prompting, the fox closed in with his holder and slowly pressed his head against hers. Kurama watched the lavender eyes danced with emotions as each seconds passed by, his memories of their nation's ancient greatness and their beginnings of downfall was played behind the eyes of the jinchuuriki. It took two hours in the seal to completely show his life story, from his ascension to Kageship, his tenure as the Leader of Toubiyon, until his bitter win against Domino. Kurama backed away as he gave Kushina a few minutes to comprehend the knowledge she was given._

_'T-that... Was that what really happened?' Kushina asked watching the beast- no... Kurama gave a nod. The red head tried to control her thoughts, now aware that the 'Blank Decade'of the history of their country were not hidden due to some conspiracy, but was simply unrecorded. Everyone knew that there was a war, however, no one knew the hows and whys of the war and somewhere along the way they have forgotten it, there where no records and even most of the higher ups in those years were left in the dark, everyone in that era were now dead. In the end their historians gave up looking for answers and left the era as blank, now dubbed as the 'Blank Decade'._

_But she now knew what happened, she smelled of the blood of her ancestors, felt of hopelessness of a losing battle and watched the nine flaming orbs flew away our of her reach._

_She was incomplete... They were incomplete._

_All the Jinchuurikis are missing their other half, and Kushina would find their lost Legacy no matter what._

_'I'll help you find them...' Kushina murmured. 'I'll search for the Flames and returned them to their rightful owners, Kurama-san!That's a promise 'ttebane!'_

_**End**_

* * *

><p>Kurama gave a fond smile at the memory, he knew that his hopes went too far high on those words, but it was a fleeting pats of happiness... Since that promise would never be fulfilled.<p>

Five years has passed since their first meeting, Kurama witness another horrible tragedy befall on his Jinchuuriki, adding another list to ever growing sins.

It started with a happy note, Kushina finally manage to make the Kage agree to her proposal, the creation of their Mafia. Nagase did not agree and was adamant to keep their nations hidden away from the public, knowing that when the knowledge of a power greater than the atomic bomb is revealed throughout the world the World War III would certainly follow, he remembered the strained efforts of his predecessor had done, along with the other Kages to keep their involvement minimum in the World War II, they were successful and Nagase would not want a repeat of that. But his nephew's girlfriend was as stubborn as her mother, bringing out advantages after advantages of her proposal, he was near his snapping point when Kushina gave him her primary reason for creating the Mafia. It left him gaping in wonder and surprise when Kurama, the renowned _-dead-_ Red Kage of the Toubiyon spoke to him.

Kurama for that matter was, was hiding a his grin. He was the one who gave Kushina some pointers in their debate and he was proud that she did not gave in to her temper when Nagase countered her with expertise. However, when he saw the signs that the Kage would put his foot down on the matter, that he finally requested his Jinchuuriki to let him speak in her stead. After five hours of explaining and a short trip in his memory lane, Nagase finally relented, he was half horrified and glad to know the 'Blank Decade' of their history.

Kurama had allowed Nagase to let the other Kages know about his findings, at first the others were skeptical of his words but after a small talk with their Jinchuurikis and month long debate of the proposal along with the secrecy of the 'Blank Decade'. The allied Kages finally agreed to the red head's proposal and the creation of the Allied Country's own version of Mafia began.

Kushina was the one who was placed in charge of it's members, recruitment of the Jounins and Chounins all over the Allied countries, location of their 'base', the insertion of ANBU in their ranks, as well as the dreaded paperwork -both legal and illegal-. She would die of stress if not for the help of Minato, Jiraiya -_Minato's mentor-_ and Tsunade _-Megami's grand-something-daughter-_ in her work, after a year and a half of of endless desk work they manage to finalize their 'Mafia'. Kushina kept Kurama's history as a secret from everyone, with the exception of the Kages, it was a request from the fox, one that she would gladly keep. So instead of revealing the 'Blank Decade' to all nations, Kushina told them that the Mafia Famiglia that she was creating would become a 'gateway' of sorts to the public world, it would give the nation a more thorough information from the outside giving them knowledge of the ever growing technology and scientific discoveries, which would certainly help the Allied Countries progress more in the following years.

After she gave her finalized papers to the Kage, Kushina just wanted to lie down on her bed and sleep after a week or two since the approval would take two weeks to go over by all the Kages. She was halfway out of the building when she taken by surprise at the scene by the doorway.

_'Ho, the brat finally got his balls to ask you huh?'_ Kurama commented snapping the red head out of her shocked state.

The fox watched in amusement as the blond stuttered through his proposal, he was half way through his words when Kushina decided that they have enough mushiness in their dates and shouted her answer along with a bone crushing hug. A month after, the preparations were made for the wedding along with the official reveal of their Familgia -which would be in the next six months, since the construction of their base is still ongoing-.

The wedding was simple yet grand at the same time, the ceremony only took two hours to finish and the after wedding party ended until the next day. Three months later Kushina announced that she was pregnant. Minato was overjoyed at the news, while Kurama was happy yet apprehensive. This was the first time that a holder of his is pregnant, he doesn't know if the seal would be affected during the birthing process, since he was 'asleep' during Megami's tenure, the following holders of after Mito were all males, even the majority of the current Jinchuurikis were males. He voiced out his worries to his holder and Kushina agreed that she would give birth in Toubiyon, Kurama was hesitant to agree remembering the past destruction, in the end he requested that they need to have some form of back up plan, that he would let Kushina deliver her baby in Toubiyon.

Three months passed by and it was time for their Famiglia to enter the outside world, majority of her members already went ahead for their preparations and are waiting for her arrival of their 'boss'. Kushina for the time being is waiting for her husband, who was being given a farewell talk by his uncle.

_'Are you ready?'_ Kurama asked as his Jinchuuriki.

_'Of course! 'ttebane.'_ Kushina replied as she rubbed her growing belly, she felt some kicks and smile at his baby, he's gonna be a handful in the future.

Not a second later, Minato walked out of the Kage's office with a huge scroll in hand. He held out his hand with a smile and husband and wife disappeared with a flash.

Kurama was still unused to such sudden teleportation that he took a moment to take in the large mansion before him. He felt awed as he recognize the structure, it was his old castle albeit at a smaller scale, but it was his castle the one that was destroyed during his awakening, the has same design and architecture, even the miniature molding at the corners were copied in exact detail! It brought the memories during his tutelage under his mother. It was a heart aching experience to see it again whole and undamaged.

_'You like it?'_ Kushina asked as she felt the emotions of her companion. _'The buildings in your era is very unique and I have taken a liking to your home at the instant I saw it.'_ She added with a grin.

_'Yes...Thank you.'_ Kurama culd only reply

A parallel line of shinobis stood along the wide walkway, dressed in the standard Mafia outfits -fedoras and all-. Kunoichis stood by the entrance dressed in a customized maid outfit and together in one swift movement bowed and greeted their Boss. Kurama was overwhelmed at the display, it made him grin along with Kushina.

It was official, they are finally going to start the search for their lost Legacy.

Their first order of business was to gather information. ANBU's were assigned for that since they were most experienced in that area, it was manage by Jiraiya since the man was the retired commander of the force. Tsunade was in charge of their 'illegal' activities, which were mostly gambling and underground fighting, they would branch out when they can have at least five alliance in the future. The former was manned by Shizune _-Tsunade's apprentice_- since her mentor was horrible at any form of gambling, the latter was manage by Tsunade herself. The two began to scour the underground to spread their name, it was slow and steady, it would take at least a year for their name to be in the radar of the top Mafia. Minato became Kushina's right hand man of sorts -her slave to be truthful- and manage the security of their new Famiglia keeping an eye of other minor Mafia Families and the newly discovered Vindice. They would need to be under the latter's radar for now, the sudden appearance of an unknown Mafia Famiglia would certainly catch their eyes.

Two months after, the ANBU bore the news of the rumored Arcobaleno, the seven strongest babies of the world. Kushina held the report in absurdity, while Kurama gave a critical once over of their written description.

Rainbow colored pacifiers... Nine floating orbs... It can't be that simple, can it?

Kurama fully knew -_assumed to be more precise-_ that the pacifiers holds their Legacy, now that they found out who has them, the how's and where's are still unanswered. They are so close in figuring out the maze like puzzle, but their search would be postponed for now, Kushina is nearing her last month of pregnancy and Kurama would not take any chances of any uncontrolled destruction happening outside of the Allied Countries.

The ninth month of Kushina's pregnancy is filled with nervousness and excitement, they let Jiraiya take the temporary position of boss for the meantime, since Tsunade would be the one who would aide Kushina in delivering ithe baby. The blonde was a closet mother hen, Kurama would always see the blond busty woman always by the side of his Jinchuuriki. Minato on the other hand was creating a rut on the floor with the many times he walked back and forth, his nervousness did not help both the pregnant woman and the tailed beast within her seal, it would always lead to the blond man being kicked out of the room by an irate red head.

It was a clear day one morning of 10th of October when Kushina broke her water, in no less than a second the two blonds were moving in a dizzying frenzy. Minato shouted an order to the ANBU guard to alert his uncle of Kushina's situation, while Tsunade was getting her equipment by the second. After the ANBU's confirmation, the three disappeared in a yellow flash. Two blonds and a pained red head appeared inside the cave on the country side of the Toubiyon, the ANBU's on stand by were alerted by their presence and began to create barrier seals, this was one of the procedure that was always done when a Jinchuuriki is giving birth, a precautionary ordered by Senju Megumi. They knew the dangers that might come if things go out of hand but for now all they could do is wait.

Kurama would watch the two blonds coordinate with an efficiency of a well oiled machine in awe if not for the sudden crack appearing in the seal. Afraid that it might hinder the baby's delivery, Kurama began to try to save the seal drawing out his blood as he repaired the cracked lines, as each second passes more cracks began to appear giving more than what Kurama can save with his nine tails, at this rate that cracks are appearing the seal would be destroyed in matter of minutes.

The three outside the seal were unaware of the trouble Kurama is having at the moment, Tsunade was too focused on instructing Kushina to push, while Minato was too busy trying to save his arm from being ripped off of its socket as Kushina shouted profanities at him. It was only with sudden change in the red head's voice that the two were snapped out of their frantic moment.

Kurama tried to ignore the feeling of contraction in his lower part -it was too weird to even think of it- as Kushina receded to the seal, he glared at the blond, unknowingly letting Kushina's eye narrow into slits, and instructed him recreate the seal on his holder's stomach. There is no time to explain as the the cracks continued to spread rapidly in the seal, seeing that the blond is not moving, Kurama used Kushina's voice and with a tone that he used as the Kage years ago ordered the blond to move it. Then without any warning, Kurama's worst fears happened.

The seal broke.

The ANBUs felt a humongous spike of Chakra from inside the cave and froze in alarm and not a second later a huge head of a fox burst out from the cave, destroying the small structure with frightening ease. The guards could only watch in horror as the seals they put were ineffective, the ANBU captain blinked for a second until the situation dawned at him. With a voice in near thunder the captain ordered half of his team to retrieve the couple and the medic, and the other half to form a defensive line against the loose tailed beast. The area was fortunately far from the main city, the secured safety of their people was only a small relief until back-up would arrive, the only thing they could do was stall the beast and hopefully restrain him by the time reinforcement arrives.

They waited for the oncoming destruction and was confused when the beast did nothing, it was only sitting on his hind legs, head raised towards the sky and his nine ever flowing tails lied limply behind him. The sudden confusion was roughly disturbed by the sudden appearance of a spiraling ball of chakra slamming against the flank of the beast. The ANBU captain saw the tears on Minato's face and searched for the source of sorrow. There, half a kilometer away from the beast was Tsunade holding onto a bundle in her arms, eyes stained with tears and lying before her was Kushina seemingly asleep. The captain fully knew that the red head would never wake up again.

Kurama did not tear his eyes away from the sky as he ignored the sudden spike of pain on his side. He was pretty sure that Minato was raging on him for losing his wife, but the pain in his heart was hurting him more than the barrage of Rasengan in his body. Kushina was like a sister to him, an annoying yet lovable sister... A sister he killed by his own existence.

He froze when a- supposed to be dead- voice echoed in his ears. Kurama slowly swiveled his head towards his jinchuuriki and only saw her dead body, unmoving and unresponsive.

_'Kurama...'_ The same supposed to be dead voice echoed again in his ears.

_'Kushina?'_ Kurama asked, his sanity might be questioned in the future but for now he would gladly drown in the illusion created by his mind.

_'I'm sorry Kurama... I can't fulfill my promise. 'ttebane'_ There it is again, Kurama thought. His ears twitching at the voice. He decided to humor himself and replied to the voice.

_'I-I'm the one who is sorry... I promised that I would never hurt my holder in any form... But now...'_ Kurama replied as he closed his eyes, he held back a surprise when he saw Kushina standing in his mind. _'You... You're-... H-how?'_

Kushina giggled, seeing Kurama in a new state of confusion. '_I imprinted some of my soul with chakra into yours. 'ttebane'_ the red head explained. _'Although this would only an hour at most'_

_'But your son.. Your family... I'm sorry I took you away from them...'_ Kurama replied with regret as he watched Kushina rub her now flattened belly.

_'It was inevitable...but I wished I had some time to say some last words to Minato and Naruto.'_ Kushina replied wistfully.

_'Naruto huh?'_ Kurama asked solemnly. _'Maelstrom... What a fitting name.'_ Kurama commented.

_'I'm glad you didn't translated it to fishcake. 'ttebane'_ The red head replied with some fondness.

_'Heh, well then, let's go.'_ Kurama replied as looked at the small human by his feet.

_'Where? 'ttebane?'_ Kushina replied in confusion.

_'Why to speak your farewell of course...'_ Kurama replied, this is the only thing he can do for her now.

The ANBU captain was about to order his men to engage the unresponsive beast when he a felt familiar flare of chakra. The orders died in his throat and he was left to watch the very one sided fight before him. Minato was still attacking the unmoving beast and the captain pitied the state of the once feared Tailed Beast, spiraling craters littered the giant figure and the once red orange fur were unrecognizable as it was bathed it the creature's blood.

A minute later, the Toubiyon Hokage arrived alone and the man's eye widened at the sight. He signaled the ANBU captain to stand down and went towards his raging nephew. One glance at Kushina's lying was the only answer he needed with a heavy sigh, Nagase released his killing intent and directed it at his nephew, Minato stumbled in his attack and glanced at the person behind him.

"Minato... Enough." Nagase ordered him.

The blond man's only reply was to lower his arm, the Rasengan he was forming disappeared in an instant, his head lowered towards the ground and tears began to fall one after another as he watched the still unresponsive beast before him.

Nagase moved forward and put his hand on his nephew's shoulder, the Kage gave a reassuring squeeze and walked towards the beast, he didn't stop until he was standing before the giant of a fox. The ANBU along with Tsunade could only watch with apprehension as their Kage neared the beast, they have their orders but one hostile move and they will defend their leader.

"Kurama-san..." Nagase called out, loud enough for the fox to hear but low enough that the others would not hear the name.

Slowly but surely, the fox's head lowered and the Kage was surprised to see lavender eyes stare back at him instead of the red narrowed pupils. "K-Kushina?!"

Minato's head snapped at the fox's position and looked directly into the eyes of the beast, blue eyes met lavender and the blond parroted his uncle's question. He knew the owner of those eyes very well, and painfully knew that that person would never open her eyes again.

"Hello Minato..." Kushina greeted, her voice was distorted but Minato recognize it all the while. The fox hid a wince as he move laid down on the ground. "Ouch... You really did a number on Kurama-san's body. 'ttebane"

"W-wh-what's the meaning of this Kushina!?" Minato asked as he ran forward.

"It's my farewell..." Kushina replied revealing nothing yet everything, as Kurama began to heal his wounds. "The seal was not strong enough to contain him when I am giving birth. It's either me or the death of our son... It was not very hard to choose when something as precious as a baby is in front of you. 'ttebane"

"B-but... What about us? Our future" _Me? _Minato asked as he gestured at their sleeping son in Tsunade's arms. It was unfair! Kushina did not have to die...

"I am sorry I can't be there for the two of you..." Kushina replied, her eyes glistened in tears as Tsunade approached them, the little bundle in her arms was awake, his blue eyes gazed curiously at large lavender ones, Kushina saw whisker-like birthmarks on the cheeks and the situation was different she would squeal at the cuteness, but for now she could settle with a loving smile. "Naruto-kun... My little baby... I'm sorry mama can't be there to help you grow up, but papa will be there for you. Make you listen to him and give him a prank or two when he's all moody. Be sure to eat your vegetables and brush your teeth before you go to sleep and... and..." Kushina knew she was rambling but there too much to say with so little time, she held back a sob as she watched Naruto raised one of his arms his little digits reached forward to the fox.

Minato watched the two with a pained heart, he gently took his son from the Senju and walked closer to the fox. He gave a sorrowful look, as their son gave a smile as his little hand landed on the nose of the fox. "I'm gonna miss you Ku-chan... I love you." He proclaimed after a moment of silence.

"I love you..." Kushina replied. "I love the two of you, never forget that. I'm sorry that our time together was cut short... Minato, take care of him for me would you? A-and don't blame Kurama-san he... He is hurt more than enough of what he can live with..."

The blond could only nod in response, he couldn't trust his voice at this point. He watched as the giant fox began to decrease in size until it was big as a horse without a prompt he sat down at the side of the fox and leaned his back on the being's flank. He felt Kushina's chakra emanating from the tailed beast in a slow gentle waves, it helped him relax as he treasure the moment. Seconds later a soft hum echoed from the fox, a tune that Minato was very familiar with, it was the one Kushina would always hum when she was cooking or when they would just cuddle on the couch after a tiring day of work, it brought back the memories he enjoyed together with the woman he fell in love with.

Kushina closed her eyes in what would be the last contentment she would feel in her life, it was a sad yet joyful day for her, it was just fitting to hum the lullaby she was very fond of. She felt her husband slowly easing out the tension from his body and Naruto was already asleep in his arms with a smile. Kushina draped three of her tails on her loved ones and smiled as Minato sighed and slowly fell asleep. She watched them for a few minutes, burning the image to her heart.

"Nagase-sama..." Kushina called the man who was standing a few feet away from her along with the ANBU captain and Tsunade. The blonde woman gave he a smile, but the Uzumaki could clearly see the hurt in her eyes. The Kage nodded at his companions and walked towards the large fox.

"Please seal Kurama-san in Naruto..." Kushina asked with a determined voice, she still has a promise to keep, she hoped that her son would find their lost Legacy. She could ask Minato but she knew that the were some resentment were left in her husband's heart, it would lead to nowhere if Minato would not cooperate with Kurama.

The fox watched as the Kage went silent for a minute, knowing that the man is debating a mile a minute in his mind. "Are you sure?" He asked as he pulled out a scroll from one the seal in his arms.

Kushina nodded in relief.

"Your famiglia would be hindered with your sudden death." Nagase commented as he unrolled the scroll.

"I trust Tsunade to finish what I started." Kushina replied, watching the Kage draw out his blood with a kunai and smeared it on the scroll.

Nagase nodded, fully knowing what the fox meant. Kushina and by extension Kurama would allow the Senju to know the 'Blank Decade' and would continue the search for their Legacy. They would need time to readjust their plan and with Kurama to unable aide them with their search, one of the Jinchuuuriki's would need to join the Famiglia, it would take time since most of the current Jinchuuriki are the Kages or one of the clan heads, a position that cannot be easily given up on a whim.

The Kage waited for the smoke to dissipate revealing an intricate seal written on a large square blanket, he sighed ruefully as he stepped towards the baby, he gingerly took Naruto from the sleeping man's arm and placed him at the center. Kushina stood up from her position after she let her husband lie on the grass and followed the two. She took a tentative step on the blanket and stopped when she was directly above her son. Kushina took a glance at her husband and closed her eyes, her decision would either destroy or strengthen the bond of father and son... and it seems that her question will never be answered.

_'I'm sorry Minato... I hope you forgive my selfishness...'_

"I'm ready." Kushina stated.

She watched as Nagase smeared the final lining on the seal and with a flash of light, Uzumaki Kushina knew no more.

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><p><em>'Ne, Kurama-chan... Does dad hate me?'<em>

_'...Of course not, why do you think so?'_

_'Be-because... Because he was glaring at me when I am not looking at him!'_

_'Aa, you're wrong on that kit...'_

_'...'_

_'Minato, hates me...'_

_'Why?'_

_'Because... Because I killed you mother...'_

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><p><strong>AN: Chapter two is done! I'll put the reminder again so DON'T SKIP THIS PART **

**As for some clarifications, and please forgive me if there is an error in translation, I used google translator :) I also used the complete map of the elemental nations to pick out some countries.**

**Kurama- Sky(orange)-Whirlpool-Toubiyon(haitian)**

**Gyuuki-Lightning(Green)-LIghtning-Rayo(latin)**

**Chomei-Sun(Yellow)-Earth-Dàdì(chinese)**

**Saiken-Snow(pale blue)-Order-Poryadok(russian)**

**Kokuo-Mist(indigo)-Chaos-K'aosi(georgian)**

**Son Goku- Storm(red)-Fire-Fuoco(italian)**

**Isobu-Rain(blue)-Water-Mizu(japanese)**

**Matatabi-Night(black)-War-Karas(lithuanian)**

**Shukaku-Cloud(purple)-Wind-Ánemos(greek)**

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><p><strong>There will be a slight change in the story line since there will two more spot for guardianship for the Snow and Night Flames. I'll take up some OC's -your suggestion of course- or any character from other animes as long as it fits the Vongola's craziness. On a new note there would be three factions for the new positions, the following Families would need new members (preferably non-Naruto character since they are reserved for the Shinobi!Mafia faction)<strong>

**1. Vongola**

**I'll put up guidelines though, so please bear with me..**

**OC suggestion**

**Name; age; gender:**

**Reason:**

**Personality:**

_**Anime Character Insert:**_

_**Name & from what anime:**_

_**Reason:**_

_**Personality (in case if I'm unfamiliar with him/her):**_

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><p><strong>NOTE: please watch out for the next few chapters of the suggested OC's and Characters. There is currently one OC suggestion for the S<span>now Guardian<span> position of Vongola. I'll post the future guardians in future chapter so please watch out, I _might_ post the suggested OC and characters in my profile.**

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><p><strong>That's it! Review, suggestions, critiques, and even greetings are welcome. It wont hurt to type a few words for little old me~<strong>

**PS. The more reviews the faster the update -it'll be a week at most-**

**PPS. CAN ANYONE SUGGEST A NAME FOR THE MAFIA OF THE ALLIED COUNTRIES?! with your reasons of course... :D**


	3. Promises

**A/N: Ehehe, sorry for the long wait, I just finished my first semester and the finals were such mood altering thing. Anyway, official first chapter! Yeah, I just focused on Naruto's journey and some closure, and I just this a bit extra long so please enjoy~**

**And I'll give my cookies to 'My Hopes and Dreams' and 'Generation Zero' for reviewing~ for the former...there will be no pairings for now at least, Hinata would not be in a romantic relationship with Naruto just sibling relationship, pairings will be planned if the plot decided to veer close to love relationships...**

**A ThankYou for those who viewed, followed and made my story their favorites! You guys rock! **

**PS: Guys I need Reviews! I read them to write! so please give me some slack here.**

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><p>"<em>Kushina! What are you doing?!" Kurama shouted as he desperately tried to overtake the control of his body, this is not what he had in mind! He was fully prepared to end his existence and reemerge a few years in the future, granted that it would set back their search for another decade or so, but he was willing to die and leave the family alone...he caused enough grief already.<em>

"_I'm keeping my promise, 'ttebane" Kushina replied with a cheeky smile. "I won't be the one to fulfill it... But I trust my son and besides..." she paused as she grinned at him. "You'll be there to guide him."_

"_I...I'll do what I can..." Kurama softly replied as the inevitable happened. He watched in resignation as the last line of the seal was drawn and a flash of light enveloped the Nine Tailed Beast._

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><p>Blonde eyes, squinted in a glare at the strip of sunlight that awoken him. With a groan the small figure turned away from the morning ray and snuggled deep into the covers, his bright blond hair was the only thing that can be seen from the bundle of orange covers. Whiskered cheeks rubbed at the warmth of his pillow as his mind returned to the welcoming hands of sleep.<p>

"GOOD MORNING NARU-CHAN!" A very loud voice greeted as the door to the orange themed room opened with a loud bang.

"Uwah!" A high pitched voice shrieked at the sudden ruckus, covers flew into the air and a muffled thump followed as the small figure fell off of his bed.

"Dad!" A squeaky voice groaned, small hands grabbed at the edge of the bed as the figure pulled himself up, blue eye glared at his human alarm clock and his lips formed in a pout as the older man laughed as he scratched his cheek meekly.

"Gomene, Naru-chan..." Minato replied as he hid his squeal as he watched his son glare at him, chubby arms crossed and mouth formed in a frown- erm, a pout to be precise. The image made him remember one sassy little scarecrow during one of his visits in K'aosi in the past.

"Maa, Naru-chan, it's too early for a frown." The older blond said as he walked towards his four year old child and ruffled his hair. "Now, go wash up and we'll eat breakfast."

"Together?" The child asked with a wonder in his voice.

Minato hid a grimace, he knew he should give more time to his son but his apprenticeship to Kagehood is finally going to an end, by next month the title of Kage will be passed to him and the job would need 100% of his focus. He ignored the nagging voice at the back of his mind, telling him that he can have the time with his son anytime he want. But every time he watched his son smile, he would always reminded of Kushina...and _him..._

"Aa, now hurry up." Minato chided as he gently pushed his son to the bathroom's direction.

"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" The toddler shouted glee as he dashed across the room as fast as his short legs can, grabbing some clothes along the way, he opened the door and glanced at the mirror that greeted him. He looked up at the image of his father and paused when he saw a frown marring the face of the older blond.

He held in a whimper as the frown turned into a glare, the warm glow that his father always gave, turned ice cold. Afraid that he did something wrong, the boy slammed the door shut. His heart was beating fast and he wiped the tears that began to leak out from the corner of his eyes, the boy shook his head, willing his mind to forget what he saw.

He stared at the mirror before him and made a smile. He watched the emotion on his face, despite the crinkles of his whisker cheeks and sunny disposition, Naruto somehow saw the loneliness and hurt on the blue eyes that stared back at him.

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><p>"Minato! What the hell are you doing!?" An angry voice shouted as muffled voice boomed from the door across the Kage's office. Said Kage momentarily dropped his paperwork and waited for the person to enter.<p>

Not a fraction of a second later, the door opened with such force that the blond man winced as he saw crack appear on the reinforced wall. His brief moment of woe was suddenly cut short as the owner of the voice entered. Minato barely hid his flinch as he saw the angry visage of his mentor, somehow the red streak patterns beneath the man's eyes enhance the current expression he was directly pointing at the Hokage.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sensei." Minato greeted with a bit wariness in his voice. "I was doing the paperwork you see." He added as he held up the stack of papers before him.

"Don't bullshit me with that amicable persona of yours Minato. I'll repeat my question, what the hell are you doing?" Jiraiya asked, glare still in place as he watched his student made a confused voice.

"I'm doing the Kag-" Minato reasoned, his mentor did make any sense at what he is hinting at.

"Not that, I'm asking about your son." The white haired man replied crossing his arms. "I was able to make this visit since Tsunade has already finalize our Famiglia's position in the Mafia and plans to visit her nephew, I tagged along since it was a long time since I saw my godson."

"Look, Jiraiya I am busy with my duties-" The blond reasoned, face set into a stubborn look.

"Excuses." Jiraiya said loudly. "I knew enough about your duties, but that doesn't excuse you to ignore your son, if your uncle can juggle his duties as a Kage and a father without trouble then you won't have any trouble at all."

Minato did not reply.

"You know, we saw him today at the park, he was watching his peers playing while he was just watching them alone on a swing. While I commend you for tailing ANBUs at him as protection, it will do nothing but ostracize your child if they always appear when he was wounded." Jiraiya added. "I had asked your relatives as well as some Uzumaki's, they told me that you are ignoring your son, in favor of your duties."

"T-that's not true." Minato quickly defended himself.

Jiraiya sighed as he watched the guilt ran through his student. "Minato, do you hate Naruto?"

"Of course not!" The blond replied standing from his chair. "I love him so much...it-it's just that he always reminded me of _him..._"

"Kurama is not the one to fault for Kushina's death, Minato..." Jiraiya commented knowing the full story once Tsunade returned to their base, he at lost at what to feel at the sudden news, he was tempted to return and comfort his student but he was bound by the duties Kushina asked them to finish.

"I know..." Minato replied weakly, but his anger at Kurama was visible on his face. "But Kushina didn't have to die."

Jiraiya was seething inside, fate was truly cruel to them, taking Kushina away from her family and leaving Minato to foster hate towards his wife's 'murderer' unknowingly letting his son get the short end of the stick. But Jiraiya would damn himself if his godson would suffer anymore from fate's cruel hands, he understood Minato's feelings, however his hate towards the beast sealed inside of him would cloud the love he has for Naruto.

"I think it would be better if I take Naruto for a tour in the Allied Nations." Jiraiya said after he contemplated the idea.

"No! Naru-chan can't be protected outside of Toubiyon." Minato vehemently denied his mentor's suggestion.

"Protection from what? Minato." Jiraiya snapped. "The Allied Nations are thriving in a time of peace, no one would dare attack your son, besides I'm going with him."

"But..." Minato tried to reason out, his mind ran a mile a second, but in the end he came up empty. "But why?"

"It's better this way, I know you still hate Kurama, but you unconsciously see him as Naruto." Jiraiya explained, and saw Minato tightening his fist. "You should think about what you are doing right now and about the bond with your son, Naruto will be burdened in the future and he will need both of you and Kurama to support him in his decisions. However, your hate for the Tailed Beast inside you son stops you from reaching that goal."

Done with his speech, Jiraiya watched his student, his conflicting thoughts can be clearly seen on those bright blue eyes.

"Kushina...I-I promised her to take care of Naruto...and what did do? Ignore my only son." Minato said with bitterness. "Sensei...I-I'll try my best to settle my hate...but I think you are right, it's better if I distance myself from him for the moment."

Jiraiya sighed again with pained relief. "You made the right decision, Minato."

The sentence had somewhat eased the tense in the air.

"How long is the 'tour'?" Minato asked.

Jiraiya paused as he compute the time in his head. "Five years..."

"T-that long?" The blond asked in surprise.

"Six month stay in each nation and adding the travel time..." Jiraiya said his explanation dying in his mouth.

"How about his education?" Minato asked in worry, traveling would take up too much time and his son's study would always be affected.

"Don't worry." Jiraiya said with a grin. "I'll pull some a favors from my friends, I know they'll be eager to teach the brat some of their knowledge."

"Is this one of the perks of being an Ex-ANBU commander?" Minato asked with raised eyebrow.

"Yep."

"Then please send them a word to not let Naruto get some of your...perverted tendencies. It'll do no one good if he turns out the same as you in the future." The blond requested with a tone of warning in his voice.

"I take an offense to that." Jiraiya deadpanned.

* * *

><p>"Ne, Ero-jiji..." A very squeaky voice whined as he pulled at the white locks beneath his chubby fingers.<p>

"What is it brat?" The voice grumbled in exasperation as he tried to balance his charge on his shoulders, he gave an annoyed sound when he felt his bangs being grabbed by the child and tugged in a rather horse rider manner. "Oi, will you stop that?"

The tugging did not stop but the boy did gave an answer. "Are we there yet?"

"I already said it a hundred times-"

"62! 'ttbayo"

"Sixty-two times! That we'll get there, when we get there!"

"But I wanna ramen!"

"We ate half an hour ago!"

"But I'm tired! Dattebayo!"

"I did all the walking!"

"Pervert!"

"Brat!"

The white haired man could see the pout already forming on the toddler's lips, heaving out a sigh of relief when the tugging stopped, but his eyebrow gave a tick when the five year old hugged his head and made his hair an impromptu pillow, already asleep not a second later.

This is preposterous! The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku and self proclaimed Super Pervert Jiraiya will not be used as a bed by anybody aside from the female species. With that in mind, he raised his arms and was preparing to tickle his charge when a puff of smoke erupted before him. Within a second, Jiraiya leaped away, his right hand was already forming a seal while the other was holding a kunai in defense.

Black eyes watched as the smoke dissipated and a figure appeared. He was wearing the standard ANBU outfit of Allied Nations, which made his stance relaxed for a while, but the second he saw the silver hair bound by a top knot and a white facemask with a snarling mouth of a wolf, he threw his kunai without a prompt.

The ANBU idly shifted his head to the side as he let the weapon pass by harmlessly. Light gray eyes arced up in a semblance of a smile, the agent seemingly unperturbed by the sudden attack.

"Yo, long time no see Jiraiya." The ANBU greeted with a two-fingered salute.

"Tsukuru! You idiot! You could have sent a message to warn me beforehand." Jiraiya scolded, as he fully relaxed his stance, his arm grasped the limp leg on his shoulder, assuring him that his sleeping charge did not fell down.

"Maa, you shouldn't shout too loudly." The ANBU replied offhandedly, ignoring his comrade's remarks. "You might wake up your passenger there."

Jiraiya glanced up at the toddler on his shoulder and looked blankly at his escort. "He's a very... heavy sleeper."

The ANBU only rose an eyebrow in question.

"You'll see it later."

. . . .

"Huh?" A soft mumble echoed, small chubby arms grasped at white hair as the other rubbed the sleep out of blue bleary eyes.

"Oh, he's awake." An unknown voice commented.

Blue eyes snapped awake and looked directly at the owner of the unknown voice. He was greeted by an ANBU, one that he didn't recognize, his father always tailed two ANBU's at him when he was on duty. Since then, he was familiar at the animal masks that always appear when he was in trouble. But the ANBU before him was only wearing a white facemask of a snarling wolf covering his lower face, the long silver hair tied in a top knot was new to him.

"Who're you?" Naruto asked curiously, if a bit rude.

"Brat, you should respect your elders." Jiraiya commented, his once neatly tied white hair was now in disarray and would easily reminded the onlookers of a bad morning hair, especially the females.

"No he's not." Naruto replied. "He's too young to be an elder."

"What did you say!?" The tall white haired man replied.

"I think, Naru-chan is saying that you're old." The ANBU replied with a cheery voice.

"Silver-san, is right! 'ttebayo." Naruto eagerly replied, instantly gave a nickname to the unknown person, he paused for a second as he remembered a lesson taught to him. "...And a pervert, Aunt Tsuna said that said that perverts will not be respected." The blond nodded sagely.

The ANBU chuckled as the older man replied and the banter continued for while until, both guests were throwing insults one after another. Tsukuru let the two argue for a minute until Jiraiya let out a 'hmph' and crossed his arms. Coincidentally Naruto also did the same atop the man's shoulders, the site was funny enough that the ANBU gave a short laugh.

Naruto, stopped his moment of sulking as he was reminded that he did not know of the name of the ANBU.

"Ne, ne Silver-san, what's your name?" The blond asked again eagerly, he was jumping of his ride and the white haired man grumble a complaint. The ANBU back home always have a coden ame and they were always silent, he had once tried to make a conversation but they only replied in short words, Silver-san on the other hand was quite the opposite, he has a 'friendly' air about him and his eyes gave those eye-smiles once in a while.

"Hatake Tsukuru, ANBU commander of K'aosi." The silver haired replied, with overly fashioned bow, making the blond giggle.

"I thought ANBUs have code names... 'ttbayo." Naruto asked with tilt in his head.

"I was unfortunate that my brother is the Hokage... News had spread so fast at my sudden promotion and... Well my identity was known before Sakumo tried to salvage it." Tsukuru replied with an offhanded shrug.

"So, you're a super strong ninja then! dattebayo" The blond replied with vigor. "Can you show me some jutsus?! Dad is too busy back home and the ANBUs were too..." Naruto scrunched up his nose as he tried to find the right word.

"Secretive?" Tsukuru supplied.

"Un!" The blond replied as he tried to juggle off Jiraiya's shoulders, he used his ride's long hair as a rope to climb down.

"Brat! That hurts!" Jiraiya complained, but leaned back to allow the blond to jump a few feet to the ground.

Naruto landed and was about a mouth off an insult when he saw Jiraiya's hair for the first time.

"Ero-jiji... What the hell happened to you?"

"Language, Minato would kill me when he knew his son has such vocabulary." Jiraiya scolded lightly as he tried to comb his spiky tresses into something manageable. "And you did this." He added.

"No way! I was sleeping! Dattebayo!" Naruto defended himself.

"Jiraiya was right though." Tsukuru commented. "You fell down many times during the travel and turned his hair into a war zone. I'm amazed that you didn't woke up from the fall."

Naruto blushed at the comment, he was not that bad when he's sleeping... Was he?

"A-anyway... Where are we?" The blond asked distractedly as he saw the farmland around him, he tried to ignore the smirks the two older men wore.

"We're halfway through the border of K'aosi." Tsukuru commented. "We'll reach the gates for another thirty minutes."

"You could show me jutsus then!" Naruto said excitedly, as he jogged towards the ANBU with glee.

"Maa, I can but-" The ANBU replied but he paused when he felt a sliver of familiar chakra a few meters away. His eyes scanned the surrounding and his eyes landed on a scarecrow a few meters away.

Naruto and Jiraiya followed the line of sight of the ANBU and saw the scarecrow.

"Kakashi." Tsukuru called out, getting confused faces from his guests. "You should know better than escaping from your tutors."

Naruto squinted as he watched the deceptively unmoving scarecrow move a limb.

"GHOST!" Naruto shouted in fright as he hid behind the ANBU.

"Maa, Naruto he's just my nephew." Tsukuru assuaged as he ruffled the blond locks, which was surprisingly soft.

"You have a possessed scarecrow as a nephew? 'ttebayo." Naruto asked incredulously, he began to pale at the thought.

"No, I assure you, he's human." The ANBU replied with amusement. "You should come out now Kakashi, you're scaring our guest."

A soft curse was whispered coming from the scarecrow, Naruto watched in horror as the scarecrow move again and jumped down from his perch, he began to pale as it walked towards them in a zombie like manner.

"Get it away! Dattebayo." Naruto shouted again as he ran back to Jiraiya who was a few feet away.

Said man just watched the event with great amusement.

"I'm not that scary, am I?" The scarecrow asked as he stood a few feet before the ANBU, his voice was scratchy and eerie, a fitting effect for a 'haunted object'.

Tsukuru eye-smiled at the innocent question. "I guess you are..." He replied as he glanced at the shivering orange bundle behind the white haired man. "However you should discard your disguise... I'm afraid you traumatized Naruto enough."

The scarecrow paused and shrugged offhandedly, his straw-like fingers made a sign and he was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.

"Is it gone?" Naruto asked his eyes closed.

"No I'm not." an unfamiliar voice replied.

Naruto took a peek and saw a boy in place of the scarecrow. He was a head and a half taller than him and wore a black shirt with a white henohenomoheji at the center it was paired with a black ninja pants and sandals. He blinked when he saw a shock of silver hair on top and a plain black facemask that covered his lower face. Near black gray eyes showed the mirth at the blond's reaction.

"Hey! Who're you? 'ttebayo" The five year-old asked, fear momentarily forgotten.

"Naruto, this is Hatake Kakashi, the possessed scarecrow... And my nephew." Tsukuru introduced ignoring the glare directed at him by a certain genius.

* * *

><p>"It's cold!" Six year old Naruto said as he shivered, bundling up his jacket closer to his body.<p>

"Don't be a wuss." Jiraiya commented.

"You're worse than me! Dattebayo!"

Which was true, his guardian was a literal ice popsicle with the amount of ice dangling off of his nose, his white hair was turning into a frozen white hedgehog.

"Tch, I'm n-not the one with an i-internal heater here!" Jiraiya replied with a stutter, referring to the tailed beast inside his charge.

Naruto could only glare as he ran after his guardian. The white haired man told him of his 'luggage' during their stay in K'aosi, but Naruto just took the news in stride since the beast did not showed its presence years after the sealing. The gates of Poryadok were close and with the incoming snow storm the blond have no reservations for a stay in the freezing area. The two reached the gates after an hour of running, Jiraiya quickly knocked the giant door with his secret code and despite the howl of the snow filled winds, the sound echoed throughout the gate. Not a moment later the door opened with a small margin, big enough for the two guest to slid through.

Warm air greeted the duo, Naruto rubbed his arms as goosebumps formed, he was glad that the Poryadok have enough sense to seal their country against the force of nature.

Two kunoichis ran towards them with a steaming towel in their hands. Naruto accepted the improvised heater with relieved smile, he snickered as he watched his godfather pulled the melting ice from his nose.

"Yeah, yeah... Laugh all you want, brat." Jiraiya commented as he draped the towel on his head.

"Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-sama." An ANBU appeared before them, her figure was covered by a cloak, face covered by a snowflake patterned mask. "Yuki Onna-sama awaits your arrival, please follow me."

"Lead the way, and just call me Naruto. Dattebayo." The blond replied when he saw Jiraiya is still rubbing his half frozen hair.

The ANBU paused and nodded, she turned around walked in silence.

Naruto followed the ANBU and ignored the grumblings of his guardian. He watched the buildings before him and was awed at the architecture of Poryadok, the Country of Snow. If Toubiyon has it's buildings built with flat swirling roofs and tall trees and K'aosi was the reincarnation of the olden Britain filled with skyscraper like buildings, then Poryadok was the sea of igloos, their home and buildings were shaped like igloos of different shapes and sizes, there were buildings and stores made from ice which was incredible since they were not melting, Naruto assumed that they were aligned with seals. The civilians wore white and blues with fur lining on the hem, while the harried ninjas wore an all white attire, seemingly blending with their surroundings.

The blond can't help but be awed at the sight before him, his head continued to swivel from left to right as he watched in amazement.

"Were here." The ANBU in front of them announced.

Naruto rubbed his eyes at the sight that greeted him, it was a castle...made from ice! How the heck did he missed that!?

"You should reattach that mouth of yours brat, flies might gather in there." Jiraiya said with a chuckle as he ruffled the damp blond locks.

The blond promptly snapped his mouth close.

They entered the building and was greeted by chaos, as chunins and genins ran hurriedly, papers flew as civilians continued to line-up for requests. Naruto took a moment to marvel at the interior of the castle all the while dodging the ninjas on their way, he was half thankful for the tort- tutorial Kashi-nii gave him back in K'aosi.

The three reached a platform and Naruto was again surprised at the stairs, it was still made from ice, but when the blond held the railings he was confused when the ice did not bite his skin with cold.

"The seals carved inside the ice retains its form, it also prevented the room temperature to affect the form of the ice. The seal was a gift from Toubiyon's famous Red Kage in the past." An unknown voice explained.

Naruto directed his line of sight at the owner of the voice. Atop the stairs was a effeminate figure wearing a light blue turtle neck that was covered by a white fur lined jacket, it was paired with a white shinobi pants and fur lined boots. Her face was delicate along with a silky black hair tied in a neat bun, Naruto might have gained a crush.

"Please follow me." The unknown nin stated.

Jiraiya was the first one to follow the order and Naruto fell in line with his godfather, blue eyes kept glancing back at their escort with a blush slowly creeping back on his whiskered cheeks.

The white haired man watched his charge ultimately embarrass himself, he can't wait to tease the blond in the future.

"A-ano, whose the Red Kage?" Naruto asked, trying to talk to the unnamed nin. It was spur of the moment and he was feeling stupid, a feeling that he was well acquainted with. He didn't see the gleeful smile his guardian made.

The raven glanced back and tilted her head for a bit. "He was known to be the greatest seal master in history, his feats were known throughout the Allied Nations and was the one who revolutionize the nations with his creations. His name was Kurama. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Namikaze Naruto, ehehe." Naruto replied scratching the back of head. "And that's Ero-jiji, also known as Sannin Jiraiya."

"Oi brat!" His guardian's complain went unnoticed.

"Yuki Haku." The nin promptly introduced.

"Are you related to the Kage? 'ttbayo." Naruto asked after a moment of awkward silence.

The nin shook her head. "The Yuki Onna is a title only reserved for the Kage, it was long time tradition after the 'Blank Decade' where three consecutive Kage's are all female and are from the Yuki clan, since then the title remained. Shishio-sama was half embarrass to gain the title since he's a man."

"You mean that even if the Kage is a man-" Naruto cut off his own laughter at the insinuation.

"Yes." Haku replied with an amused smile. "Although I caution you not to use the title in his presence, he's a bit temperamental."

"Duly noted." Jiraiya replied, holding back his mirth unlike his snickering charge. He was impressed at the amount of knowledge the chunin have.

"We're here." Their escort announced as they reached the door of the the Kage chamber.

"...And Naruto-san, I apologize but I don't swing that way." Haku stated before the two entered the chamber.

"Just Naruto please." The blond replied with a blush but paused as the words sank in his head. "Wait, what do you mean by 'I don't swing that way'?"

"I noticed your infatuation at me during the walk, and I'm sorry that I cannot return the same." Haku replied.

Something clicked inside Naruto's head and his face gained a horrified look.

"You mean... You're a BOY!?"

* * *

><p>"Teme."<p>

"Dobe."

"Why you-"

"Sasuke, please refrain from insulting the guest." Itachi said as he watched the two seven year old banter during training.

"He started it!" Sasuke replied with a tilt of whine in his voice as he pointed at the bedraggled blond.

"That is not an excuse, as one of the chosen to be the Kage of Karas, you should contain your ire at a guest, especially an international at that." Itachi chastised.

"Hai, nii-san."

"Now, what's all the ruckus about?" A jolly voice asked as the door of the dojo opened.

"Obito-nii!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the new arrival. "You're late! 'ttebayo!"

"Ahaha...Sorry. An old lady needed help carrying her groceries and her house was on the other side of the city..." Obito replied as he adjusted his goggles.

Itachi watched his cousin interact with their hyperactive yet lazy guest. The blond was energetic when it comes to training but when come morning he was as even more lazy than a sloth, these past three months were a challenge when it comes to waking up the blond and the Uchiha siblings were the unfortunate ones tasked for that certain chore.

"**Did he said anything about Kurama." **An female voice echoed in his consciousness.

"_Matatabi-san." _Itachi greeted his tailed beast. _"I'm afraid Kurama-san has not awoken yet."_

"**This is unfortunate, the search was postponed enough after Kushina's death, I was hoping that Kokuo and Saiken manage to contact him." **Matatabi replied with a solemn voice. **"When will you be transferred?"**

"_Tsunade-sama has allowed me to extend my stay until Naruto will travel again." _Itachi replied.

"**In three months time, yes?" **Matatabi asked receiving a nod from her holder. **"I'll take the time to try contacting Kurama, the fox has enough sleep already. Even Son Goku manage to awaken after he was transferred to that Sarutobi child."**

"_I heard that Sakumo's child would be the next holder of Kokuo in the coming months." _Itachi commented idly.

"**As soon as that albino made a connection with his next holder, tell Tsunade that if she can possibly request to transfer him under her care, I recall that the boy was entering the ANBU division, and a genius to boot." **Matatabi suggested. **"We really need to gather everyone."**

"_Killer Bee-san had already transferred after he passed over the title of Clan head to his sister, Mitarashi Anko was already under Tsunade's care six months ago and Suna Gaara will be transferred together with me." _Itachi supplied.

"**Gyuuki, Isobu and Shukaku's holder, right? Then that leaves Chomei, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken and Kurama's Jinchuuriki." **Matatabi mused.

"_Yuki Onna, has already sent a message that by next year he will commence the beast transfer to his official apprentice, one Yuki Haku will be taken under Tsunade's wing on the condition that he will be trained for the position of Kage in exchange for unhindered cooperation with Saiken-san." _Itachi said scanning his memories for a more recent news about the Jinchuurikis. _"The Sarutobi clan of Fuoco Country is unfortunately unable to aid the search for a while, Konohamaru-kun is still too young to enter such mission."_

"**Pity... Son should try to hasten the child's growth, but knowing that ape, he'll just provide protection until he deems that it is time to tell the boy about our search." **Matatabi commented.

"Oi, Itachi!" Obito called out snapping the raven from his inner conversation. "I'm gonna borrow the kid for a while, you wouldn't mind, would you."

"Hn."

"You know, I'm glad I didn't learn that language." Obito muttered as he adjusted his goggles , he lifted Naruto and placed him on his shoulder.

"To the ramen stand!" Naruto shouted.

"Hai, hai." Obito said exasperatedly as he vanished with a puff of smoke.

"Nii-san." Sasuke called out after he patted his shirt from imaginary dusts.

"Hn?"

"Is Obito-nii related to Naruto?"

The question took Itachi offguard, he was expecting that his younger brother would ask about ore training exercises, it was true that Obito and Naruto has some hyperactive tendencies, obsession with ramen, prank kings of their own right, obnoxiousness and ...stupidity. Now that he think about it, the similarities are horrifyingly accurate. Although Itachi reminded himself that Obito is an Uchiha and Naruto is a Namikaze...

"No, Sasuke they're not."

. . .

"O-Obito-nii?" Naruto whimpered as he sat up from the cold hard floor, he remembered winning a foot eating contest against his fellow prankster, he remembered the pranks they did after that...and he remembered being caught by an Uchiha, Obito's far relative or something...and nothing.

Fear began to seep in him as he tried to move his limbs, the darkness didn't help one bit and the cold floor was uncomfortable. He winced when he felt a sharp sting on his wrists, the rope was too tight. The blond felt hopelessness fill him and his mind ran with questions that he wished will be answered. Who kidnapped him? Why? Where is Obito-nii? Where is Ero-jiji?

Naruto valiantly tried to erase the fear in his heart but being a healthy seven year old, his imagination ran rampant in his head. Monsters of all shapes and sizes were hiding before him, their beady red eyes stared at him with a hungry expressions like a predator hunting its prey. He suddenly want his godfather, his nii-sans, even the teme.

The blond froze when he heard a creaking sound echoed in the dark room. For a moment he thought his heart stopped. Heavy footsteps soon followed and Naruto did not dare to breath. He glanced at his surroundings and he bit back a scream when blood red eyes stared at him from above. His blue eyes lay transfixed as the three swirling tomoes snared him away from reality.

* * *

><p><em>Drip...<em>

_Drip..._

_Drip..._

"_W-where am I?" Naruto thought as he stood up the ankle deep water, all he remembered was those three swirling tomoes and nothing else._

_His ears picked up something and his foot unconsciously took a step towards it...he barely noticed that he was in a gigantic tunnel of sorts as he walked mindlessly towards that something. _

_He reached the end, or he thought was suppose to be the end, and he gazed at the large sleeping fox behind nine large pillars. Naruto knew that he was the holder of the Nine Tailed Beast, he wanted to see the beast since Nagase-ojisan mentioned the tales when he was visiting the old man, tales that seems to be too far fetched from what he had read in the history books. He was curious, as should any child be, and watched the humongous fox before him, intimidated at the size of a single claw, in which he was barely fourth of it's size._

_Naruto took a step back as the fox moved, nine flowing tails thumped hazardously close to where he was standing, he bit back a shout as clawed hand flew above his head and landed beneath the muzzle of the beast. It was only then that Naruto saw the face of the Beast and the blond woefully remembered the same expression he always saw in a mirror when he was alone in the house._

_Hurt...loneliness...self loathing..._

_Despite the sleeping countenance of the giant fox, it's emotions can be seen clear as a day. Somehow Naruto wanted to ease that pain even for a little while._

"_Kyuubi..." Naruto muttered, hoping that the beast will wake up._

_The fox did not respond._

_The holder sighed as he glanced at the pillars, all of them have a seal on them made from blood. Naruto recognized the seals as one of the Uzumaki containment and sleeping seal, he took a glance at the still sleeping fox and back at the seal._

'_Destroy the seal...Wake...-ama...flames...' A disembodied voice echoed in the tunnel and despite his fear of ghosts Naruto found himself relaxing at the soothing tone._

"_Who's there?" Naruto asked, he was relaxed yet his mind was weary enough be alert._

'_No...explain...-ry wake...-ama...danger...' The voice echoed again now with a bit of urgency to the tone._

_Naruto, had faintly remembered being tied in the darkness, his memories began to return and he took a moment to let his situation sink in. His curiosity died and fear bloomed in his chest as he back pedaled away from the beast, eyes wide in fright._

_Someone abducted him and trapped him inside the seal containing the fox...he'll the die a bloody death the moment the beast will wake up. He turned around planning to ran away from the sleeping beast as far away as possible, but the voice had once again echoed stopping him from even taking a step._

'_Silly child...-ama...friend...won't hurt...-as a...promise...' _

_Naruto distinctly felt a hand guiding him towards one of the pillar, he was surprised that he didn't freak out the moment his hand was gripped by something he does not see. His small hand landed in one top of the seal and a gently push of encouragement from the invisible force, he smudged out the still wet blood from the pillar and watched in amazement as the seals glowed in a bright light, engulfing the pillars in white until it disappeared._

_Red eyes snapped open and Naruto could only watch in apprehension as the Nine Tailed beast sat up in it's hunches and stared at him with a blank expression._

"_**Yo."**_

_Naruto have no idea what to reply to that._

"_**Man, you sure attract a lot of trouble eh, kit?" **__The fox commented twitching his rabbit like ears as if he was hearing something beyond the tunnel. __**"Well then, we should hurry up, no one would want to cause an internal war in the Allied Nations..."**_

_The blond could only watch as the fox's human like hands made a sign and both the holder and beast disappeared in a bright orange light._

* * *

><p>The first thing Naruto saw after he opened his eyes was a war torn clearing, trees were scorched, ground were torn, and the air is filled with smoke as the fire continued to eat the trees, It was fortunate that he didn't see the pile of dead bodies hidden behind a large bush. He began to cough out as the bitter smoke entered his lungs, rubbing the tears from his eyes, Naruto stood up with a bit of wobble. He continued to walk without any direction, until he heard voices meters away from him.<p>

"Madara! Where is he?!" A familiar voice shouted, Naruto hurried his footsteps until he reached another clearing, this one is filled with an army of black haired nins and a certain pervert.

"Ah, the blond Jinchuuriki?" A man replied, few meters away from the group behind Ero-jiji. "He's currently going under an experimentation I guess, I want the tailed beasts for a long time and whose better to take than the strongest of them all?"

"Bastard!" Jiraiya shouted as he ran towards Madara, fists raised in preparation of an attack, but before he took a step a pale arm stopped him.

"Jiraiya-san, this is strictly an Uchiha business." A female voice calmly said, Naruto recognize the owner as Uchiha Mikoto, current Kage of Karas and mother of Itachi and Sasuke. "I would put an end to this disgrace, meanwhile you should search for your godson."

Naruto could see that his godfather was seething, but the white haired man nodded nonetheless, the blond scanned the surrounding nins and saw Itachi among them. He was surprised to see that the teen is actually a Jinchuuriki like him, the black glow licking the sharp claws on Itachi's hand was a dead giveaway.

The second that the Toad Sage exited the battle, all things became a blur to Naruto. He watched as the Uchiha Kage summoned a giant red warrior-like entity and the man name Madara also summoned his own, however his warrior is blue in color. Naruto could any watch in awe as the two beings battled with swords, they were even in power but the sudden emergence of giant two tailed tiger, which dwarfed the two entities, had put the favor towards the female Uchiha.

The battle escalated into epic proportions and Naruto would be a bloody paste if his godfather did not get him at the last second after a vicious swipe from Madara's sword.

"Naruto! How did you escape?" Jiraiaya asked as he carried his charge, he remembered the pile of corpse from the destroyed laboratory kilometers away from their position.

"I-I don't know..." Naruto replied honestly as he stared at his stomach where the seal is placed. "Someone... Someone helped me, I guess."

* * *

><p>Naruto breathed the familiar air of Toubiyon. Blue eyes re-familiarize with the swirling rooftops where shinobi and kunoichi alike greeted him with a wave. A flash of white ran across his peripheral and Naruto let out a sigh. Not even ten minutes since his arrival, his father had ordered ANBU to tail him. He wished that Jiraiya was with him today, but nooo, he needs to go back his research which he always did after they entered every country.<p>

_'I bet his research was peeking at women.'_ The blond thought as he reached his home.

He glanced at the entrance and saw the chaos called rush hour as familiar faces ran through the first floor, requests flew in the air and temperamental civilians were loudly complaining at the slow progress of their line. He scratched his head and glanced at the window where Kage chamber is located.

With a grin he walked towards the wall and stepped on it, followed by another and in no time he was walking on the wall. It was an achievement he was proud of, he learned the tree walking exercise during his stay with Kashi-nii but he never got the right balance, he was always blowing trunks after one another. He finally got the right balance after he got some tips after Hyuuga Hinata, a fellow Jinchuuriki, back in Dàdì Country, she has an awesome ability to see everything with her eyes. They became quick friends after he 'rescued' her from Neji, Hinata's cousin, by rescue he mean disturbing the spar of the two, although in his defense Hinata was already down and Neji had the audacity to try and kick her when his opponent is obviously unable to defend.

He reached his destination and smiled when the window was open, his smile turned into a grin when he recognize the person behind the window.

With the silence of a cat he opened the window, and readied himself to pounce on the unsuspecting red hair.

"Don't bother brat, I already knew you're there." The female muttered as she began compiling the paper delivery for the Kage to sign.

"It's not fair that you have a crazy sensor ability, Karin." Naruto muttered as he jumped down from the window sill.

"Hah, you're a hundred years too early to sneak at Uzumaki Karin, cousin." The red head announced with a toothed grin.

"Yeah, yeah, just blabber all the way... Hey what are you doing here? Dattebayo." Naruto asked with confusion.

"I'm you father's secretary, duh." Karin replied as he finished compiling.

"Since when? And why didn't you told me in one of your letters?" Naruto asked as he whistled at the stack of paperwork in front of his cousin.

"I only had the job for only a week, and I'm amazed that your father did not go crazy with the amount of paperwork he does." The red head replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Come on, your he waited enough."

Naruto had enough sense to half the paper his cousin is carrying, even then his palms can barely hold the stack of reports, as the two walked towards the Kage's office they began to catch-up to one another. Sure they sent messages once in a while, but it's different when you listen to a story rather than reading it, besides Naruto has the tendency to made it more enjoyable with his over-the-top descriptions.

"Paper Delivery!" Two voices shouted as they entered the Kage's Office, it was followed by a loud bang as the double doors made contact with a curiously indented wall.

"Not again." A voice complained behind a mountain of paperwork.

"Dad! I'm home! 'ttbayo!" Naruto greeted as he helped Karin place their delivery atop a ridiculously meter high stack of paperwork.

"Naruto?" A muffled voiced asked behind the mountain.

"Yeah!"

"Wait for a bit, I'll just finish this document... There it's done." Minato said.

Naruto was expecting a smiling blond, even a dramatic greeting from his old man, what he didn't expect though was being hugged by a very over protective father, within a second.

"Oh my Naru-chan! You grew taller! How was the trip? Did Jiraiya shared one of his books? Did you made friends? Did you eat well?" Minato asked rapidly, unknowingly hugging his son to death.

"Dad! I...need...air!"

"Aaahh! Sorry." The taller blond exclaimed as he let go of his son.

Naruto breath in as much oxygen as he can and smiled as a familiar hand ruffled his locks. "The trip was awesome! What book? I made a of friends and the food was good! Although not as good as Ichiraku's" Naruto replied just as rapidly as his father has asked.

"Speaking of Ramen, I'm hungry how about we catch up during lunch, eh Naru-chan?" Minato asked as he tried to calm his hungry stomach.

"Sorry to burst your bubble Minato but you're behind your paperwork already." Karin the ever antagonist commented.

Minato, in a childish sense, pouted at his secretary. He saw Karin's eyebrow twitch and inwardly smirk, now he just needs to add the kicked puppy look.

Naruto watched the stand still in front of him with amusement, the two sides didn't gave up on their stand. He was tempted to see who would win, but his stomach seems to agree with his father as it gave a soft grumble.

"Ne, Dad... Is Shadow Clone not allowed to substitute your work for an hour?" Naruto asked innocently. "Old man Sakumo always shared one with his clone during rush hours.'ttebayo"

"Shadow... Clone?" Minato asked stupidly with a dumbstruck look on his face.

"For a genius, you have your moments of stupidity eh, Kage-sama." Karin replied with a laugh.

. . .

After a short reprimand from Karin and some reminders from Minato, the two Namikaze were finally out of the building. People of all status greeted the two along the way until they reached their favorite destination. Ichiraku.

"Hey, Old man! Extra large Miso with pork on top!" Naruto greeted as he sat on the chair, legs swinging in excite for finally reaching his favorite chef.

Minato followed his son with exasperation. "Add another order of that, Teuchi-san. On a second thought make that double."

"Ahh, Naru-chan! You're back." Ayama gushed out as she leaned over the top of the counter. "My, how long it's been since I last saw you?"

"Five years Nee-chan!" Naruto answered the assistant chef of the Ichiraku.

Minato glance back at the two and smiled at the cheerfulness of his son...and _him. _The older blond tried to snap out of his musings and decided to make a small talk to the male chef. "Ne, Teuchi-san, how's the business?"

"Thriving as ever, Kage-sama!" The old man replied. "With Jiraiya-sama's help I was able franchise my ramen! Who knew that my food would be famous all over the Allied Nations?"

"Ahaha, you should thank Naru-chan for that." Minato replied, remembering the pleads of Jiraiya after a week of travel with his son.

"Well then, Naru-chan! Your order will be on the house, it's the right thing to do after all the help you did." Teuchi replied as he placed two steaming bowls of ramen in front of the two blonds.

"Thank you! Old man, you're the best!" Naruto thanked as he dug in his ramen, he sneak a glance at his father and hid a wince as he saw the same frown was always directed at him in the past.

* * *

><p>Kurama watched as his holder stared at the ceiling of his room, these past months of traveling with Naruto was refreshing, and as time pass by he began to know more about the blond hyperactive kid, his likes, dislikes... His precious people...and the fear of his father...<p>

The fox sighed and pulled his charge inside the seal, he chuckled as the blond was startled at the sudden summon.

"Kurama..." Naruto asked with a confused expression.

"**Out with it kit, it bothers me if you are depressed enough to stare at the ceiling all night long." **Kurama said as he minimized his size to that of a horse.

He watched as the blond let out a huff and crossed his legs, ignoring the water that soaked his lower garments. Kurama watched as the boy stared at the ripples of water, his connection with the boy let him see the frowns Minato directed at the boy in the past.

"Ne, Kurama-chan." The fox valiantly tried to stop his ears from twitching at the degrading nickname. "...Does Dad hate me?"

The Tailed Beast let out a nonexistent sigh at the inevitable question. **"...Of course not, why do you think so?"**

"Be-because..." The blond stumbled in his words as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "Because he was glaring at me when he was not looking! I was afraid that I did something wrong...I was good and f-followed his w-words, b-but he always glares at me! H-he even began to ignore m-me before I t-traveled. Was it me Kurama?! Did I do something t-to warrant such h-hate from my f-father?"

"**Aa...You're wrong at that kit." **Kurama replied as his eyes had taken a faraway look.

"..." The blond did not reply as he watch his companion drift through his memories.

"**Minato...Your father does not hate you kit... He..." **Kurama sighed, he was afraid of what the blond will think about him in the future, but the truth needs to come out. **"Minato, hates me..."**

"Why?" The blond replied, his blue eyes scanned the fox before him, Kurma was nothing but a good friend to him, a supportive yet teasing older brother if he might add. What does his father see in Kurama that he doesn't?

"**Because...I killed your mother..." **Kurama finally said it, damn those technicalities, Kushina died because of him! Nothing would change that.

"No...you're lying!" Naruto shouted as he watched the fox flinch, the blond tried to find anything to erase that regretful look from his companion, but nothing else gave away save from the guilty expression from those red slitted eyes.

"**It's the truth...go ask your Dad..." **Kurama said as he watched the disappearing form of the blond.

"**For what it's worth...I'm sorry that I took Kushina away from you..."**

* * *

><p>"Dad!" Naruto shouted as he ran through the hallway, he needs to see his father. Kurama did not kill his Mom... He reached his father's room and rammed the door with his fists.<p>

"Naruto?" A groggy Kage opened the door and saw his teary eyed son looking at him with a pleading look. He glanced at the corners of the hallway and signaled the ANBU for some privacy. He led the smaller blond inside his room and made him sit on the couch, he quickly signed his personal ANBU to give them some time alone and sat beside his son patting the shaking shoulders in a soothing manner.

"Naru-chan...what's wrong?" Minato asked, as he wiped the tears from his son's whiskered cheeks.

"Did Kurama killed Mom?"

That one question froze the Kage, he was expecting the question to be asked sometime in the future, he was not ready yet...his hate for the beast still lingers in his heart.

"I-...Kurama...No Naru-chan." Minato replied, his promise to his wife echoed in his head like a mantra.

Naruto sniffed as he watched his father, the pained anguish in those eyes reminded him of Kurama's look before he went out of the seal. "Then why do you hate him? 'ttebayo"

"Kushina... Your mom was such a wonderful person, if a bit temperamental...I just can't believe she died...I love her so much, Naru-chan..." The Kage replied as the memories of him and Kushina ran through his mind, he snapped out of his thought as the image of an unmoving Kushina flashed in his mind.

"He still suffers you know... His eyes held the same pained look that you have right now, but it was worse, much worse than a person who lost a loved one..." Naruto replied, staring at the ceiling as if he was looking at the sky. "I wonder why..."

Minato stared at his son with a bit surprise, the hidden history known as 'Blank Decade' rang bells in his mind at the innocent question. His uncle was the one to tell him of the unknown history and it's relation to the mafia organization that his wife had created... He did listen to the words his uncle told him, he just didn't let the knowledge sink in.

"Kurama...was known as the Red Kage in the past..." Minato began as he repeated the words his uncle said to him, maybe it's time to face his demons.

The blond Kage continued to relate the 'Blank Decade' all throughout the night to his son until the first morning rays shed some light through the curtains. Minato watched as his son sleep with a smile on his lip, he saw a slight movement from his son, as the light groused him from sleep. He was expecting that Naruto would sleep until midday but it seems that his son had finally become an morning person.

Minato watched as his child rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly began to open them, but it was not the bright blue eyes thar he was familiar with that greeted him, instead it was the red slitted pupils that once haunted him in his dreams.

"**Oh, Morning Namikaze-san." **Kurama greeted as he stretched the body of his holder, his deep voice echoed along with Naruto as he spoke.

"Kurama-san." Minato replied with a stiff nod, this was the first time he officially met the Beast and he found it unnerving to see his son's body being used like that. "What brings you to this side?"

"**To bring a closure, Namikaze." **Kurama sighed as he forlornly at the rising sun.. **"I am willing to bear you hatred for Kushina's death, but do not let your hate cloud your judgment. You have directed you anger towards your son far too many times in the past and he's become wary of you."**

"I...I understand. I have broken Kushina's promise once again..." Minato replied in defeat. "I'm not a really good father am I?"

"**I agree." **Kurama interjected. **"However, you still have another chance to right what you have wronged... Your mistakes can be repaired easily, Namikaze..."**

"What about yours?" Minato asked, seeing a glimpse of a broken man behind the beast.

"**My...my mistakes...they're irrepairable. I destroyed and killed so much that forgiveness won't ease the pain I suffered. I murdered my own people Namikaze! The children of Toubiyon that I cherished... killed by my own hands..." **Kurama said as tears rained down. **"Tell me, Namikaze, are the lives that I -we- have taken worth enough to regain our lost Legacy?"**

"...No...Kurama... The Nation's Legacy is not worth than a life of a person precious to you." Minato replied as he remembered his wife.

"**I see..." **Kurama replied as flashes of dead bodies ran through his mind.

"But you did the right thing... You saved us from a fate worse than death, Domino overstepped his boundaries by desecrating the dead and experimenting on them...the Flames...if left unchecked can cause more destruction than protection."

There is silence after that as both man and beast continue to drown in their thoughts. Kurama felt some burden eased away from his shoulders.

"When...when did Naruto made the connection?" Minato asked...changing the topic to a more manageable one.

"**It was during his abduction in Karas..." **Kurama replied with a frown.

"Abduction!?" The blond asked in alarm.

"**It was hidden to you as requested by Naruto, for reasons unknown to me. One of the Uchiha plans to contain all the Tailed Beast to rule to world." **Kurama explained with a snort, the Madara person was clearly insane. **"The kit woke me up and I helped him escape from the laboratory, just moments before my extraction. After that we arrived in time too see Mikoto engage the traitor, and with the help of Matatabi they defeated the wayward Uchiha and killed him."**

"Ah...I should ask more of this to Jiraiya..." Minato mumbled.

"Dad?"

"Naruto?" Minato glance back at his son and saw the familiar blue eyes gazing back at him.

"Did Kurama finished his talk?" Naruto asked as he sat up straighter on the couch.

"It seems like it..." Minato replied.

* * *

><p>"Aunt Tsunade? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise as he bumped onto the buxom blonde on his way to Ichiraku.<p>

"Naru-chan? Naruto?" The female asked as she stared down at the blond child. "It _is _you!"

Naruto felt his soul leaving his body as the Senju hugged the life out of him.

"Boss! Naru-chan can't breath!" A voice called out its owner snagged the oxygen deprived blond from the clutches of her boss.

"Thanks Shizune-nee-chan." Naruto said as he inhaled his beloved oxygen.

"Shizune what did I told you about calling me boss in this place?" Tsunade thundered.

"To stop calling you boss...?" Shizune asked as she wearily took a step back away from her mentor.

"Oi, Baa-chan! What're you doing here? 'ttebayo." Naruto questioned.

"I'm here to get you, brat." The blonde replied as she dragged his nephew back to his home.

What? And Where?! B-but my ramen! Dattebayo!" Naruto wailed dramatically.

"Shizune! Go buy him some." Tsunade ordered as she continued to drag her load.

"Yes Boss!"

"You didn't tell him?!"

Minato held back a grimace as he watched his desk shatter into pieces, he was thankful that his paperwork was already finished.

"I-I told him about the 'Blank Decade' already!... I just -uhm... Forgottotellhimaboutthenextpart?..." Minato replied dodging the fist that was surely meant to crack his skull.

"You idiot! You forgot the most important part!" Tsunade snapped as she crossed her arms.

"T-then what about Kurama?" Minato asked in defense.

"The fox doesn't have any idea what is happening in the Mafia!" Tsunade replied as she raised her foot.

"Ne, Aunt Tsuna...what are you fighting about? 'ttebayo." Naruto asked as he let his eyes gaze back and forth at the two arguing blonds, seemingly unperturbed by the violence before him.

"Naruto, your idiot of a father here." Tsunade said as she lowered her foot, her brown eyes snapped pointedly to the flinching Kage. "Forgot to tell you about the Flames of Legacy."

"Flames?...what's that? 'ttebayo." Naruto asked with a tilt in his head.

"_**It's the Legacy that we lost during our tenure, kit."**_Kurama answered in his holder's mind. _**"Your mom wanted to get it back to their rightful owners, that's why she created her own Familgia."**_

_'But...mom's already gone...'_ Naruto thoughtfully replied.

"_**Yes...that's why she entrusted you to finish what she started..."**_

_'Then why didn't you tell me about it in the first place? We could have already planned the search years ago.'_

"_**I...don't want to cause anymore harm to your family, kit. I have taken your mother already and I don't want to destroy anymore..."**_

_'How many times do I have to beat the sentence 'It's not your fault' into that rabbit eared head of yours? And besides who said that you're not part of the family?'_

"_**..."**_

_'You're like a second father to me Kurama or an annoying elder brother...You protected me, taught me and supported me in my decisions...'_

"_**All I have done so far, was heal you scrapes when you fell down, tutored you to those math subjects and help you choose what flavor of ramen you want to eat first... I've done nothing but small things in your life, kit."**_

'You just ruined the moment, you stupid fox!'

"_**Don't go mushy on me, brat. Your mother watched enough soap operas to last me a millennium."**_

_'What I meant to say is that, I want to thank you for being there for me and what better way other than helping you find you Flames?... There I said it, no mushiness see?'_

"_**Of all things you get from mother's genes, it always has to be stubbornness...Alright! You get your volunteer work, but on one condition."**_

. . .

Tsunade watched in amusement as her nephew talked with his companion, the emotions was clear as a day on those whiskered face and she already had a gist on what they're talking about. She rose a delicate eyebrow when she saw the determined face of the blond, the hazy look in his eyes already gone.

"So...what did Kurama say?" Tsunade asked.

"He was very stubborn, though I manage to convince him, dattebayo." Naruto replied with a grin. "But we made a deal..."

"Out with it brat." Tsunade said, glancing at Minato who shrugged at the unasked question.

"He told me that he'll help with the search if I can control his power without his help." Naruto replied, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Tch, stupid fox... He's delaying our progress as is." Tsunade grumbled. Although she got what the fox is saying, Naruto is not ready. The Mafia is as dangerous as the Shinobi when it comes to violence and Naruto...as much as she want to protect him, he needs to see the cruel reality of the Public world in order to survive.

"Naruto...are you sure you want to do this? The...the world is much more dark than what you are seeing right now." Minato played the devil's advocate for now, he was tempted to disregard's his son's decision but Kushina...

"I...I want to. Mom sacrificed her life so that I can continue what she started and I'm not gonna go back on my word! Dattebayo!" Naruto said with determination. "I will help Kurama and if I'm going to become a Mafia Boss to fulfill it then so be it!"

"_**You said the last part, just you can get the stupid title didn't you?" **_Kurama intervened with a raised brow.

_'Bah, details. I have plans on becoming the Kage but Mafia Boss sounds much nicer, 'ttebayo. Besides, I bet the paperwork is much smaller that what my dad does right now.'_ Naruto replied, inwardly grinning at the bullet he dodged.

Kurama clearly remembered the stacks of paper that Kushina nearly drowned in and he glanced at his container. **'He'll learn soon enough.'**

* * *

><p><strong>..and done!~<strong>

**A/N:**

**As for some clarifications, and please forgive me if there is an error in translation, I used google translator :) I also used the complete map of the elemental nations to pick out some countries. Just a bit of explanation is some of you got lost...**

**Kurama- Sky(orange)-Whirlpool-Toubiyon(haitian)**

**Gyuuki-Lightning(Green)-LIghtning-Rayo(latin)**

**Chomei-Sun(Yellow)-Earth-Dàdì(chinese)**

**Saiken-Snow(pale blue)-Order-Poryadok(russian)**

**Kokuo-Mist(indigo)-Chaos-K'aosi(georgian)**

**Son Goku- Storm(red)-Fire-Fuoco(italian)**

**Isobu-Rain(blue)-Water-Mizu(japanese)**

**Matatabi-Night(black)-War-Karas(lithuanian)**

**Shukaku-Cloud(purple)-Wind-Ánemos(greek)**

**OC/Anime insert is still open! please refer to the AN on the previous chapter for some tips. Well that's all, please leave some review on the way out, greeting, critiques, thoughts, suggestions anything! just leave something for me to read will ya? ^_^ **


	4. Beginnings

**A/N: Surprise, surprise I updated! This chapter is bit short for my liking but, meh and update is an update. For those who put this story in their favorites and follows, you guys rock! For those who viewed this thank you soo much. XD**

**Shout out to 'ThePizziaMan' for making a review!**

**I nearly forgot to put this in some of my chapters...ehehe but I don't own Naruto and/or KHr! but I do own a Minato plushie :p**

* * *

><p>"Tsu-kun! Wake up." A cheery voice echoed along the hallways of the Sawada household, followed by the soft clanks of kitchenware being used.<p>

Sawada Nana, the matriarch of the Sawada Family hummed as the drifts of the morning sun shone along the meadow. She glanced at the digital clock a few feet away, her short brunet hair followed in rhythm. Brown eyes lit up as the numbers '5:36' blared red in contrast to the shadowed hall.

"...Ah..morning." A voice grumbled from the direction of the stairs along with a heavy and somewhat dragged footsteps, a loud yawn soon followed as it's owner entered the kitchen. "Kaa-chan..."

A shock of gravity defying brunet hair, a shade lighter than the observer, was the first thing that entered the field of vision of the Sawada matriarch. The person was petite boy, with the most -I would really want to type expressive eyes but- half awake look on his face, his tired expression was a sharp contrast to his attire, consisting of a long sleeved white shirt with a number 27 print in orange at the center and black jogging pants.

"Tsu-kun, Good morning! So, how long will it be this time?" Nana asked as she rummage through the fridge for some ingredients.

"I...*yawns*...guess about an hour?" The teen replied as he mused up his hair into a more manageable spikes. "Maybe more..."

"Three routes?" The brunette asked as she placed the ingredients on the table and gave a slight kick on the fridge's door to close it.

"Two... Ryohei-san was too energetic yesterday, my legs felt like lead with the amount of running he forced me to do." The teen answered as he took hold of the fridge's handle seconds before it closed and pulled a water bottle from inside.

"Hmm, I don't know Tsu-kun." Nana began as she turned her attention towards her son. "You're pushing yourself too hard in the past two years. It wouldn't hurt anyone to use the funds your father gave us."

"Kaa-chan, we already talked about this." The brunet replied as he closed the door of the fridge. "I know _dad_ gives us more than enough allowance monthly, but I refuse to accept his charity. You- we need him, as a father and as your husband, not a benefactor. So long as he doesn't see that, we will not use his money unless it is for emergency."

The first time he told this to his mother, she called it unreasonable and it's more of a sulking. Tsuna preferred to call it 'creative rebellion', if Iemitsu won't even take the role of a husband seriously then he doesn't have any place in this home.

"Yeah, I know." The mother replied as she rubbed her arms. "But, three part time jobs? And a morning training to top that? Tsu-kun, isn't that a bit excessive?"

"The rumors are still there Kaa-chan, I need some exercise if I want to come home without a scratch." The teen replied with a sardonic twist in his lips, referring to his past...misadventures. The clenched fist of his mother did not go unnoticed at the silent reference. "Besides, your food is more than enough to energize me."

The brunet his a sigh of relief as the clenched fist relaxed, seeing an angry Nana once is enough to last him a lifetime, although the principal might still need his after life to compensate such vision. Who knew that the happy-go-lucky-and-seemingly-gentle-Nana packs a punch that went through a wall when she was informed that her only son is being bullied by majority of the school?

"True, though it is a good thing that the school year starts next week, ne?" Nana commented as she busied herself at cutting the meat, the slightly vicious way she cut into them seems to be ignored by the pair.. "I think you gathered enough money to last us for the first term. You should quit two of your jobs so you could have time to study."

"I guess..." The teen muttered. "I'll think about it."

There was a comfortable silence for only a second when a shout echoed throughout the street.

"There goes my 'trainer'." The brunet announced with a grin as he jogged towards the front door, grabbing his sneakers along the way and quickly wore them, the echoes was getting closer and his 'trainer' was seconds away from their house.

"Kaa-chan! I'll be going now!" The brunet hollered as he opened the door.

"Be careful Tsu-kun! Breakfast is at-"

"7:30! Ja ne."

Nana could only smile in fondness as she watched her son greet the Sasagawa kid with an eager smile. Tsunayoshi grew up too fast for her taste, but it seems that seeing her crying on her anniversary snapped something inside her adorable tuna-fish, that was two years ago. Since then her son began to gradually change, from waking up early to attend the school, doing the chores without a complaint, to the slow increase in his test scores she manage to peek. But despite her son's efforts, the random absents and cutting classes was still there, Nana's only clues were the fading bruises. She knew that her son is being bullied, but to what degree was unknown to her. It hurt her to see her Tsu-kun like this, but she promised herself that she would only help if Tsuna will ask for it.

It was only with the help of Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, a fellow chef and Tsuna's current employer, that she knew about her son's unrelenting bullying. The second that she confirmed the news after asking some passing students, something snapped inside of her. Regret, hurt and anger fueled her mind and heart as she marched her way to the school, the sight that greeted her only added more fury. What kind of mother would not see red when she sees their child being pushed back and forth by a bunch of misfits?

With the force a raging mother bear, Nana defended her son, dragged the perpetrators along with a disciplinary officer she snatched on the hallway and locked the three factions inside the principal's office, where she spent the next three hours scolding the balding man for encouraging and or disregarding the acts of bullying instead of discouraging it. The man despite his girth and size cowered before the fury of a petite yet protective mother, the disciplinary officer however gave out shiver with every attention she manage to pin at their lack of action, meanwhile the bullies did not have the will of an iron and passed out in nervousness half an hour into her scolding. She ended her complaints with a not so subtle threat of bodily harm if her son will be bullied, gentle or not, Nana will go out for blood if her son will be attacked again.

The brunet paused as she glanced at the pulverized meat before her, it seems that she went too far in her thoughts again, no wonder her neighbors thought her to be oblivious. Giving out a shrug she placed the now too grounded meat into the pan and began to add seasonings...it wouldn't hurt to experiment once in a while.

* * *

><p>"Ryohei-san!...can...we...please...stop...for...ah...moment?" The brunet pleaded as he haggardly ran towards his senior who was jogging in place.<p>

"Sawada! We are EXTREMELY near your line! And I told you many times to call me nii-san". Ryohei replied, as he began to shadow box.

Tsuna was just grateful at the silent agreement for a short break, despite his senior's energetic demeanor, the silver haired boxer is strict when it comes to training. A lesson he quickly learned after a week under Ryohei.

"I'll call you nii-san, if you...hah...just call me Tsuna." The shorter teen replied as began walk out the kinks from his strained legs.

Ryohei just grinned at him and continued his shadow boxing, Tsuna took the offered time to take a sip on his half empty bottle and enjoyed the cool breeze the morning always seems to have.

"That's enough."

The brunet knew his body needed more time, but he nodded nonetheless. If he pleaded for a more lengthy break, it would just add a set in his endurance training for every minute he postponed his run.

"EXTREME! 3 kilometers to go Sawada! I'll meet you at the park in twenty." Ryohei quickly announced and ran at full speed, leaving his trainee in his dusts.

Tsuna just stared at the sudden change in their schedule -Ryohei usually ran with him until they reached the park- but he just shrugged it out and began to jog, steadily adding speed until he was sprinting. The brunet found the monotonic movement of his body taxing, yet relaxing at the same time. One step after another... the rise and fall of his lungs ...the repetitive movement of his arms...running made him fall in a trance a state of near peace, if he might say.

Two years ago, back when he's still Dame-Tsuna he would never thought of even exercising, his day were filled with what if's, I'd never's and why's...nearly all questions that woes at the fate he was forced to face, a waste of time if he think about it right now. He was a failure, lazy, unmotivated, bullied, and ignored...he doesn't know how he ended that way...or how he chose to be that way, but despite his misgivings his mother was always there, greeting him with a loving smile like a perpetual angel that was sent to be always by his side. His mother...the same loving mother, crying a river of tears for a certain person that was always absent in the house.

Sawada Iemitsu, or more specifically his father, a title that he will scarcely use except in front of his mother. From what his mother told him, Iemitsu was a construction worker and was too busy in his work to even visit them with his penguins and all -_yeah right_-, anniversaries, Christmas and birthdays were always spent by the two of them,. Tsuna grew content with only the presence of his mother but he also knew that his mother would never be content if she is not with her husband. Seeing her cry, all alone in the dark and clutching the unanswered phone in her hand was the last thing he would want to see again.

With that image in his mind, Tsuna began to be more active in the house, doing his chores without being told to, cleaning up his garbage of a room -and still fails most of the time, he's a boy what does everyone expect?-, waking up early and the most horrific of all... studying. The amount of lessons he missed was a tragedy, nevertheless he began to review his doodled notes, rereading his books and even tried googling for some tutorials when he's desperate enough. His work had paid well, his test scores had increased by a percent or two and his life was starting to get better...until the world reminded him to stay down and don't get up.

It was hard, being told your useless, that you're a failure and that you're better off dead. It hurts him, to be punched like a personal sand bag, to be kicked like a soccer ball, and pushed around for no reason other that he's existing. He tried to stand up, really did, but everyday reminded him that he has no one to lean on, he can't burden his mother with his problems, he has no friends nor a close relative he can talk to, he only have himself to rely on. It seems his progress are futile after all, the bullying worsened and he was forced to skip classes and make absences in order to have time to heal after a beating.

It the end his life, returned to his somewhat old routine, wake up a bit early, take a bite, go to school, get laughed at, try taking notes, get his lunch money stolen by bullies, try taking notes, get a beating for existing and go home. It was a routine that he loathes, one he wished that he would never do again, but no matter how many times he try to fight it, nothing changes.

Until that one day.

The day where he saw Sawada Nana, his gentle, oblivious and loving mother, angry. Tsuna never thought that his mother is incapable of showing negative emotions, but seeing Nana threatening the principal with bodily harm after three hours of scalding lectures made him realize that his mother is a saint yet also a devil at the same time. Nevertheless, a week after the 'Mad Nana' Incident, everything began to change. The insults had lessened and teachers had actually began to pay attention to his slow increasing scores, giving him small encouragements once in a blue moon, the principal might have taken Nana's words into heart if he was desperate enough to give a memorandum to the teachers about his situation.

Granted that not all of the students and teachers agreed to this small change, -one math teacher seem to make his total failure as a lifetime goal- the bullying, along with his nickname, is still there but to a minor degree, the worst beating he had so far was being pushed around like a rag doll and there was the occasional tripping as well, a classical act which always turn him into a laughing stock of the class. Tsuna fished out his 'I am clumsy' excuse whenever Nana trailed her eyes on the blossoming bruises on his elbows and legs, which actually worked but Tsuna knew that his excuse won't last long. Either his guilt for lying at his mother would consume him or Nana would find it out herself, two choices that Tsuna would not want to see the result.

It was only with a help of being injured in one of the P.E. games -_dodge-ball of all thing_s- that an idea lit up in his mind, why not join a sports club? That way he can have a legitimate excuse of having wounds when he got back home, a concise plan yet doing it was another thing. Aside from being called Dame-Tsuna , he has a notorious infamy when it comes to sports, every group he was unwillingly placed in always lose in one way or another and somehow his team mates manage to pin their defeat on his name. Since then, P.E. made it into his list of worst subjects in is life just a step below math. However Tsuna persevered, he began to scout some club that he can join and nearly all of them denied his request or he felt that he don't belong there, that was until he met Sasagawa Ryohei -or was it the other way around?-, older brother of his secret crush Sasagawa Kyoko and captain/ president of the boxing club.

His first impression towards the senior, was that he was the epitome of extremeness and eccentricity, and Tsuna assumed that it was due to that, that the boxing club has few members. It was actually Ryohei who asked him to join his club instead of the other way around, Tsuna just shrugged in agreement since the senior's club was the last on his list. His first impression on the club is 'intimidating', nearly all of the club members have muscular frame and Tsuna's petite and skinny frame did not help the thoughts that he might have chosen the wrong club. He nearly cried when Ryohei enthusiastically demanded him to fight him on the ring as an initiation to the boxing club, Tsuna was hardly a fighter, he was more of a punching bag if had anything to say to it.

* * *

><p><em>ooOOFlashbackOOoo<em>

"_Ryohei-san...a-are t-there othe-er w-ways b-b-beside-s f-fighting?" Tsuna asked as he tried to reason out of the bruises he might get in the near future, he was desperate to join a club but he was not desperate in acquiring more wounds._

"_Nope!" Ryohei replied as he punched his fists together. "Here!"_

_The scarred boxer threw a pair of gloves and a head gear towards their hopeful newbie._

"_Hiie!" The brunet shrieked as he clumsily caught the gloves, the head gear however continued its path and flopped down near his feet._

"_Sawada! I will be extremely happy if you pass this initiation!" The captain of the boxing club said as he began to stretch his limbs. "I don't hand out invitations to anyone without an extreme potential when it comes to fighting. So don't disappoint my extreme gut instincts!"_

_Tsuna just stared, it was the first time someone have a high expectations towards him, and this was the first time he felt some sort of recognition in his heart. He suddenly felt that he want to meet that expectation... what drove him to wear the gloves and head gear without a second thought was unknown to him._

_The brunet entered the ring and copied Ryohei's form, he knew next to nothing about boxing but he does know that by the end of the round his face will be filled with bruises._

"_Fight!"_

_Tsuna bit back his shriek as Ryohei ran towards him in a frontal assault, if one thing that bullying taught him it was to dodge, and so dodge he did. The fight was clearly one sided, with Ryohei in offense and Tsuna in a defense a variation of it since, he spent the next five minutes dodging punches from the senior. At the one sixth minute mark, Tsuna had taken damage when he was unable to dodge a mean right jab, he had raised his arms to block the punch but the force behind Ryohei's fist was tremendous that he skidded a few feet back._

"_Enough." _

_The brunet glance back at his senior and was amazed at Ryohei's stamina, here he was sweating like a pig, with arms shaking like a twig (yes. that rhyme was intended) and the older teen was just standing there in nonchalance as if he had not punched air rapidly in the past 60 seconds. _

"_You are extremely not fit for boxing Sawada." The brunet was dismayed at the assessment. "You did not attack the openings I gave and while I commend you for your dodging skills, you are not fit for this sport..."_

_Tsuna lowered his head at the repeated statement, this was his last chance and he blew it, nevermind the fact that he knew nothing about fighting._

"_..however, I am extremely right about your hidden potential Sawada! You have far more grace with your steps in dodging, you have the extremely uncanny instinct where I would attack next allowing you to react just in time to dodge my fist and you are definitely do not fit in boxing. You are more fitting in martial arts than in boxing, granted that you should learn to attack, sometimes defense is not the best offense."_

_Tsuna again found himself staring with a hidden amount of surprise in his eyes. Ryohei must have a sharp eye to be able to make such detailed assessment in just six minutes of fighting. ._

"_I-I...uhm...T-thank yo-u Ryohei-san."_

"_No problem Sawada, just be sure to extremely visit if you'll have time after your practice!" Ryohei cheered as he roughly patted Tsuna's shoulders._

_The brunet meanwhile, tilted his head at the side at the odd reply...practice? Did- did Ryohei thought that he'll go with the martial arts club? _

"_A-ano, R-ryo-h-hei-san...t-the m-martial a-arts had a-already d-d-denied my r-request t-t-to join their c-club." Tsuna stuttered his reply._

"_Why?"_

"_It's b-because I-I'm Dame-Tsuna." The brunet replied as if that sentence explained everything._

"_Oh..."_

_That one syllable crushed all the hopes Tsuna had built over the past minutes, there was a dismissive tone that he was very familiar with._

"_...so?" Tsuna snapped his head back, a confused expression on his eyes at the prompt question. His name had been in a continuous circle in the school and he was pretty sure that all of school population knew his infamy._

_The brunet did not reply and just stared at his senior, it was only the raised eyebrow that made him answer the question._

"_Y-you d-don't know?" He answered with a question._

"_Of course I knew about your extreme reputation! But what I meant to ask is why would they immediately deny you without any evaluation? I am pretty extremely sure that anyone who wants to join a club after a week of school orientation should have an extreme evaluation, every student are given an extremely fair chance to enter their club of choice." Ryohei muttered as he raked his bandaged hand on his hair._

"_I-ah...well...I was i-imm-mediately d-denied a-after t-the c-club p-presidents s-saw me, i-it seem my- uhm...r-reputation...was t-too m-much of a r-risk for t-their ch-chances in c-competitions." Tsuna lied in embarrassment, he was pretty that by the end of the day he'll be denied in this club as well._

"_That is an extreme nonsense!" Ryohei replied. "I'm sure your extreme potential would be seen if they give you an evaluation! Just because everyone called you Dame-Tsuna doesn't mean you are no good."_

_With the boxer's short speech done, Ryohei suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the entrance. Caught unaware, Tsuna shrieked at the sudden action._

"_Hhhiiiee! R-r-ryohei-san! Whe-Where are we going?!" _

"_We're extremely going to the martial arts club." Ryohei replied without looking back._

"_A-ano... Th-they w-will n-never a-accept me t-there, Ryohei-san. T-the p-president's younger b-brother was t-t-there d-during The Incident a-and he ki-kinda h-had a grudge o-on me." Tsuna said the truth this time, he was finally able to get his arm back as the senior loosened his hold on the limb. "B-but thank y-you for g-giving me the e-evaluation, R-ryohei-san." With his piece down, Tsuna bowed in thanks._

_He was about to straightened up but a heavy hand landed on his head, preventing him from looking at the boxer._

"_Tell me, Sawada, what is your extreme reason why you suddenly wanted to join a club?"_

"_I..." Tsuna began and thought of the very first reason why he wanted to join one in the first place, but looking at it right now...his reason seems weak, fragile even. Joining a club to hide his evidence of bullying in order to appease his mother's worries. Nana had given so much to raise him up and he can only repay it by lessening the burdens she had...and...all he had done so far was add more weight on her shoulders...but what can he do? "I...I want to change...I want to be strong enough to carry my own burdens...and...have the strength to stand on my own."_

"_...I see...Very well, Sawada! Since you're unable to join other clubs, including mine. I will propose a deal with you!" Ryohei announced as he pulled his hand back from the brunet's head._

_Tsuna blinked back from yet another sudden change in the senior's attitude. "W-what is it?"_

"_I will extremely help you in fulfilling your goal."_

_The brunet saw a spark in the boxer's gray eyes and bit back a gulp, somehow he got a feeling that his side of the bargain is much more difficult to be done. "I-in ex-exchange for w-what Ryohei-san?"_

"_I know you are classmates with my sister, Kyoko." Ryohei replied as he looked dead straight into Tsuna's eyes. The brunet was inwardly crying out that Ryohei had somehow found out about his crush and he'll be at the receiving end of the silver head's anger in the next moment. "In exchange for helping you, I want you to watch over her during schooldays. Her rising reputation will make her targets for some...unsavory boys and I just want some one to look after her."_

_Tsuna expects a lot of things, but he's not expecting that and now he's not only in between a rock and a hard place but with an additional boulder on top of his head. One way or another, he knew that his crush on Kyoko would not grow and would just stay as it is. It was a small price but he conceded that it might be for the better and nipping the bud before it blooms was better that letting it grow and watch it whither away. _

"_Deal."_

_=End=_

* * *

><p>That was a year ago, his progress was slow going, but it was progress with results. His training was focused on his stamina, endurance and some basic defense moves, thus giving an athletic build that focuses on speed, his height did increase a little but compared to all the boys in his class he was still the shortest one and still a bit on the skinny side, Tsuna had comforted himself that at least he was taller than the majority of the girls in the class.<p>

Speaking of girls, his 'side job' of looking after Kyoko is still there. There was a sudden bout of admirers appearing on the last year's term and Tsuna was just glad that faking sleep and listening to the gossip during break time did a lot to help him know about the current social status of his 'charge'. Fortunately, nothing major had happened and the worst thing that he faced was a scolding from Kyoko's friend Hana. On the side note, his crush for the girl did not disappear, rather it lessened to a degree wherein he will only blush -albeit faintly- when he made a short conversation with the brunette.

His infamous reputation had actually shriveled off, no one called him with old nickname anymore since his clumsiness had somewhat disappeared and his grades rose but stilled precariously above bellow average, he was struggling in academics since no one to ask for help, he had found out that Ryohei was as helpless as he was when he asked to tutor him in math. The gradual changes he made with himself manage to ward off the bullies, although there are some who still want to steam off their anger at him, they would only find out that Tsuna would not take any more beating. The brunet would viciously defend himself until some disciplinary officer heard of their ruckus and take over the fight until they would apprehend the bullies.

"DODGE!"

"Hiiee!" Tsuna let out his famed shriek as a bandaged fist sailed past his face, snapping him out of his thoughts.

His suddenly moved on his own and Tsuna found himself blocking a barrage of punches. There was a small pause and Tsuna took the advantage to distance himself from the attacker. As he was expecting, it was Ryohei and the boxer has his fists raised before him in preparation.

"You should be extremely aware of your surroundings, Sawada." Ryohei announced, he shot off the ground and began to throw punches at his trainee.

Tsuna did not reply too busy dodging the incoming fists and defending himself on the onslaught. He winced at the glancing blows he received as he maneuvered away, it was a better alternative than being outright punched in the gut, he had experienced it once and the result was not pretty.

"You're keeping your left flank too open, Sawada!" Ryohei scolded and closed the distance between them.

The brunet hid his panic, a usual occurrence since his first training, and doubled his effort in defense and dodging. This was the first part of their routine, since Tsuna was more adept in dodging, Ryohei took the opportunity to teach him some defensive moves, it took them 6 months to make him learn the moves since there were a lot of throwing and pulling off weight heavier than him, add to that is his unwarranted clumsiness had slowed his progress. However, now that he can 'turn off' his clumsiness, his learning for offensive moves can now go unhindered.

Brown eyes darted as he found an opening, not wasting the opportunity he cocked his fist back and punched. Ryohei has many advantage over him when it comes to fighting, but there is one area that Tsuna can partially contend against the boxer, and it was speed, one of the major factor of his dodging skills aside from agility. His punch hit Ryohei's right flank, but the senior gave no indication of it hurting him.

Tsuna resisted the ire that bubbled in him, he continued to dodge as the boxer countered his attack, the brunet was a second too late and received a punch on the shoulder, it hurt like hell but he won't go down that easily. He grabbed Ryohei's fist and using the boxer's momentum flipped the senior on his back. However, it seems that the boxer knew that he would counter with this move, and planted both feet on the ground preventing his fall. Tsuna was caught unprepared and seconds after, he found himself lying on his belly with a heavier weight sitting on his spine.

"I gave five openings, you manage to see four of them and took the opportunity at one. I see that you're still reluctant to attack, Sawada." Ryohei assessed after he gave his trainee some air to breathe.

Tsuna just nodded, accepting the silent reprimand for his untaken actions. "Again?"

"Again."

* * *

><p>Tokyo International Airport is bustling with life, filled with people of varying nations and origins as humongous jet planes landed and flew in a systematic schedule with foreigners and natives alike rush in and out of their designated planes in hurry. It is a week away from the beginning of the school year and thus it was understandable that the airport would be filled to the brim of families and teens who are rushing in, but despite of that conclusion that every square feet of space has a person in it and the reasonable excuse of it being 'that time of the year', the scene did not bode well for a group a teens who just arrived from their flight.<p>

"Can any one tell me why no one stopped me from going with this decision? 'ttebayo." A blond teen asked as his blue eyes darted across the sea of people in front of them, he was getting apprehensive for every second that passes by. They were trained to watch from the dark and being out in the open made him feel vulnerable.

"Hey, you're the next in line for the mantle." A female with violet hair replied, her grin was a tad bit too sadistic for his liking. "We're just practicing for what is to come, following your decisions is one of them. Besides this route is way better than using those jet planes Tsunade-sama always supplied us, less conspicuous the better."

"Yeah, you're right about that..." The blond muttered as he suppressed his reaction when a child ran pass him. "But in turn we're dealing with this 'ttebayo. How the heck did you deal with this when undercover ne, Anko-nee?" He gestured at the scene before them.

"I got tips from the vets back in the mansion." The female nonchalantly replied as she inspected her nails.

"We should be going now, Naruto. Kakashi-san should be waiting for us outside." A pale red head replied as he scanned the exits and entrances.

"Uh... Oh right. Lead the way then Gaara." The blond named Naruto replied as he glanced back at the last person of their group. "Hinata-chan, come on." He pulled the shorter female who was wearing an overly large sunglasses.

Naruto was able to maneuver his way through the thick crowd after watching Anko move past the civvies without banging into one, Gaara meanwhile had subtly followed the violet haired girl without trouble and Hinata did not even made an effort when she just grabbed the red head's shirt, pulled out her retractable stick, and tapping it on the floor like a blind person. It was running gag between their group, since Hinata's pupil-less eyes are mistaken for the lack of eye sight, the girl however used it to her advantage when they are gathering for information, other times they just used it to prank their acquaintances or some random person if they got bored enough.

Halfway through their 'crowd dodging', Naruto saw a shock of silver hair at the one of the exits, he easily recognize the owner despite the sea of hair colors since the person is towering above the people in the waiting area even if the said person is slouching lazily. Excitement rushed in his veins and Naruto doubled the effort to reach the silver head, until a hand grabbed his jacket and jerking him into a stop.

"What? 'ttebayo." Naruto grumbled as he glared at the his 'guardian'.

Anko meanwhile just scoffed and pointed a look at the baggage area. He nearly forgot of their bags in hurry, but...

"Well, since you want to practice...Anko! Your first order for today is to grab my bags and meet me outside." He ordered with an overly arrogant look in his whiskered face, seeing the twitching nerve on the female's head was his cue and dodged at the incoming fist. "Hah missed me! Dattebayo."

"Brat! Why I oughta...-" Anko retaliation was cut short when Gaara stepped closer at them, and grabbed Hinata's hand from his shirt and transferred it to Naruto's.

"You go first with Hinata, we'll meet you outside." Gaara said with his monotonic tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't let the blind wander by herself." Naruto muttered and was by a hard pinch on his arm by the said 'blind' person.

"Naruto-kun, we should hurry up ne?" Hinata said, her voice was in an overly sweet tone which Naruto was way too familiar after spending the past months under Tsunade's care.

"H-hai, Hinata-chan."

~O~

"Yo."

"Kaka-nii!" Naruto shouted gleefully as he shot himself off the ground and landed on the silver haired teen's back. "Eh...wait...a minute. You're not late!"

"Ouch, Naru-chan, way to greet your nii-san. I'm pretty sure I'm late by two hours, but your plane got delayed...so...yeah." The tall teen replied as he ruffled the blond locks in tease, his smile was covered by a surgical facemask that oddly fits him. "Hello, Hinata-chan, how's the trip?"

"It was smooth, Kakashi-san. Although Naruto's sleeping tendencies nearly broke a window." Hinata replied as she walked towards the two bond brothers, she was still tapping her stick, living up to her blind persona.

"Oi!"

"Did he? Still training even in sleep eh, Naru-chan." Kakashi teased, he eye-smiled as he saw the angry pout from is brother. "So, where are the other two?"

"Anko-nee and Gaara went to get our bags...oh there they are." Naruto replied as he saw the red head and the violet head dragging their luggage towards them, Anko was having trouble lifting up his bag.

"You lazy dog, come here and get the bags!" Anko shouted when she noticed that none of the two moved to get the bags. There was a pause as the two eyed each other until Kakashi shrugged and went towards the complaining female, he eyed Naruto's bag and knowing Kurama's protege, decided to get Anko's baggage instead.

"Oi, brat...what the hell is in your bag!?" Anko complained as she hiked the bag higher on her back, something is wrong with that bag because it gets heavier for every step she take.

"Hm? Oh, just some clothes and...Ahaha nearly forgot about that." Naruto commented sheepishly as he slapped his hand on his bag, a second later Anko felt the weight lessen and can now walk properly without hunching forward. "I'll eh...explain later, 'ttebayo."

"You better brat." Anko replied with a glare that promised pain. "Oi, Bakashi! Where's your ride?"

"Over there." Kakashi replied ignoring the insult as he distractedly thumbed at the parked silver Lamborghini Urus.

"Sweet!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the car and loudly appreciated his brother's car. "Is it modified?" The blond asked as the owner reached his side, he saw some seals hidden beneath the paint and the wheels, he wanted to confirm his discovery.

"A bit..." The silver head replied as he opened the door.

"Shot gun!" The blond cheered as he quickly entered the passenger seat.

The group quickly entered the car and the seemingly 'blind' Hinata got in without any assistance. Moments after, the group were on the road and they began to catch up with one another, except for a red head who took the time to have a nap.

~O~

"All clear Kakashi-san." Hinata announce after a silent pause in their conversation, she took off her overly large sunglasses, revealing a pair of pupil-less pale lavender eyes.

"I assumed that you were not briefed of your sudden transfer?" Kakashi stated rather than asked.

All the arrivals nodded their answer.

"Typical of Tsunade-sama, giving me all the work." The masked teen grumbled as he placed his hand on the dashboard and released a small amount of chakra. The hidden seals glowed and disappeared in a blink of an eye, signalling that the barrier seals are now activated.

"Very well, listen and no questions until I finish." He ordered and pointedly looked at Naruto.

"Now as you all know, our targets are the Arcobaleno, the current holder of our Flames and they were known to be the nine strongest people of their generation, eight were known by the Mafia and the last one is still undiscovered as of now." Kakashi began, his voice demanded attention and the listeners obeyed with knowing themselves."Due to the strength of the Flames, their adult body cannot contain the power and they were forced to go under a de-aging process in order for their body accommodate it's power. Orochimaru-san, resident scientist, theorized that it is due to the lack of development in their chakra network that forced the flames to de-age their containers, since children have a malleable chakra network and can therefore be reformed into what the Flames needs. This results to the unusual powers up of the Arcobalenos, inhuman strength, speed etc., and they also retained of memories of their adult selves, which only added." Kakashi explained in length, he turned to a corner and continued to drive.

"Anko, you explain the the eight wonders...I'm reaching my limit of 'amount of words per day'." He airily replied, but placed a look at the violet haired girl at the back.

"Tch fine. The eight known Arcobalenos are the following: Reborn, holder of the Sun- Chomei-san's Flames, is allied to the Vongola and a freelance hitman. Viper, holder of the Mist- Kokuo-san's Flames, assassin of the Varia. Verde, holder of the Lightning- Gyuuki-san's Flames, is...still in his lab, I think. Colonello and Lal Mirch, holder of Rain and Snow- Isobu and Saiken's Flames respectively, both are henchmen of the CEDEF. Fon, holder of the Storm- Son Goku-san's Flames, allied to the Chinese Triad and lastly. Aria, recent holder of the Sky- Kurama-san's Flames, she is the current boss of the Familgia Giglio Nero. There done, I hope you three will remember those name." Anko muttered as he crossed her arms.

"B-but-" Naruto began to complain but was cut off by Kakashi.

"Don't worry I have some info on them in scroll back in the unit, you can review them later as much as you want." Kakashi amended, knowing of Naruto's bleak memory when it comes to names. "Now that you have a more thorough background of out targets, our next agenda is make a contact with one of them."

"How?" Hinata blurted out.

Kakashi glanced at the girl in the mirror with a bored expression. "Vongola." He answered, it seems the 'question for later' order will not be followed this time.

"Eh?" Naruto asked, bewildered at the simple answer and glanced at Gaara who had been silent all throughout the ride, the red head however gave no indication in answering the silent question.

"Ahh...so someone did have the guts to go for the last heir..." Anko replied with a sadistic grin. "So whose idea was it this time?"

"Glad you found it out by yourself. Unfortunately, the last one died in a freak accident, poor guy got burnt up that only ashes remained." Kakashi replied somewhat nonchalantly at the disturbing content, he turned towards the freeway and continued his drive. "Anyway, you all know that the Vongola had three heirs, the first two choices died by our ANBU division and the last one died in an accident before we finish the plan to kill him off."

Naruto took the news without a blink of remorse, he was adamant at first at the choice of killing the heirs but after Jiraiya gave him an official record of underhanded dealings made by the heirs, it had only taken a second to change his mind. Killing will be part of their lives as nins of the Allied Country that was an undeniable fact. He had made his bones only a year ago after his first solo mission in the Mafia world, an initiation of his resolve, he killed many men that night and the only thing that abated his guilt was the inhumane acts his victims had done before they met their end. It was true that nins are rtuhless killers but they kill with justified reason, nothing more, nothing less.

"But wouldn't it be detrimental for our second agenda?" Gaara voiced his input for the first time, his sudden question snap the blond out of his thoughts.

"Nope, that's where majority of the Famiglia's intel is wrong about. Vongola does not have three heirs, in fact they have a fourth one, born and raised in the 'safety' public and without the knowledge of his heritage. We found it out with courtesy to Jiraiya-sama's network" Kakashi explained.

"So the fourth heir has no knowledge about the Mafia? Then how will he take up his position as the tenth? 'ttebayo." Naruto said after mulling the information in his head.

"That's where a certain hitman comes in." Anko butted in with a grin, already caught up with the plan. "Reborn is well known to be loyal to the Ninth Boss, and will be ,without a doubt, sent to train the last heir. This is where we will meet our second agenda."

"If our assumptions are correct, then you guys would need to make a contact with the heir as soon as possible." Kakashi added. "Reborn will be making his entrance near the second semester, and it would be better to start early rather than have someone watch our every moves."

"Why only focus on one Arcobaleno?" Hinata asked.

"Because rainbows don't appear in one color, Hinata-chan.'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There done! Something tells me that it I need to add more length on this chapter but second semester is coming soon and I really want to put an update here before reality will force me to take a vacation in his world. **

**Reminders~!**

**Kurama- Sky(orange)-Whirlpool-Toubiyon(haitian)**

**Gyuuki-Lightning(Green)-LIghtning-Rayo(latin)**

**Chomei-Sun(Yellow)-Earth-Dàdì(chinese)**

**Saiken-Snow(pale blue)-Order-Poryadok(russian)**

**Kokuo-Mist(indigo)-Chaos-K'aosi(georgian)**

**Son Goku- Storm(red)-Fire-Fuoco(italian)**

**Isobu-Rain(blue)-Water-Mizu(japanese)**

**Matatabi-Night(black)-War-Karas(lithuanian)**

**Shukaku-Cloud(purple)-Wind-Ánemos(greek)**

**OC/Anime insert is still open! please refer to the AN on chapter 2 for some tips- at the bottom part. Well that's all, please leave some review on the way out, greeting, critiques, thoughts, suggestions anything! just leave something for me to read will ya? ^_^**


	5. Contact

**A/N: Hey! got ya'll a quick update! First reason is that second semester will start tomorrow, I'll have classes and will be a bit busy, a bit of bad news to some of you but I still have a good news! I have a really huge vacant time during Wednesdays and Fridays so if you want me to have at least a weekly update just review! **

**To those who viewed, and put my story in their Favorite and Followed lists thank you so much for the support! Love you all to pieces.**

**And a shout out to **Akayuki Novak** who took the time to leave some review on the previous chapters 3: **

**Disclaimer: No I will never ever own Naruto and/or KHR. T_T **

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Contact<p>

A loud knock echoed throughout the air, greatly disturbing the whole unit as one violet haired female banged the door with too much sadistic glee on her face, while the other unoccupied hand was filled with a quarter dozen of dango. Anko was not really a morning person, but she was tasked to brief the team for their background by Kakashi after he left for some info gathering in the underground world, and him being the commander for this mission has every last say in everything that goes. She was still put off by the thought but being a high caliber assassin since she was 12, would not contend to a man who entered the ANBU at ten, a commander of their Familgia at fifteen, made a name for himself in the underworld, feared and respected at fifteen, and if that doesn't speak experience that Anko doesn't know what would. Although she would admit that being born a genius gave an edge when it comes to planning things.

"Five... minutes..." A muffled reply was the only thing she got after ten minutes of banging the door. Seriously, her future boss has the energy of a dead sloth when it comes to waking up.

"Brat! Wake up already!" Anko demanded adding another volume to her incessant banging, she swiveled her head at the side as a door opened with an eerie sound that echoed horridly in her ears. "Oh, Gaara good you're up." She greeted the stoic red head with a grin, her fist still banging repeatedly against the door, she would give another ten minutes until the wood would be indented with her fist if Naruto would still sleep like a damn log.

The red head rose inquisitive look with his face despite being eyebrow-less.

"I need to brief all of you for your background." Anko explained seemingly understanding the silent question. "Kakashi went to gather info, Hinata is cooking breakfast and I need to wake up this idiot!"

Anko shouted the last word along with a viscous slam on the wood, she continued to relentlessly knock on the door since this was the only way she can wake up the blond, the sealing fanatic had some sense to -finally- put some defensive barriers in his room which was, in hindsight, a bad suggestion since the blond can now sleep for all he want. Gaara on the other hand just watched the attempt in silent amusement.

"Mmmarghh!" Another muffled sound echoed soon followed by a loud thump. Anko froze the millisecond she heard the familiar thumping sound and she was glad for ingraining the instinct, since her palm was just shy of centimeter away from being impaled by a senbon that was clearly not there seconds ago. Despite being in a relative state of sleep, the blond sure have a fearsome accuracy and strength to boot, lodging a senbon through a two-inch thick door without an aide of chakra is a sight worthy a rising eyebrow.

"Okay...since the needles were out, and I don't want to become a pincushion before breakfast...How the heck am I going to wake the idiot up?" Anko murmured as she stared warily at the glinting senbon before her, she took a bite on her second dango and munching thoughtfully on her little problem.

"**I suggest bribing the boy with ramen would wake him up." **A deep voice echoed in her mind, forcing her to raise an eyebrow at the sudden contact.

'_Kame-ojii?' _Anko greeted with a question.

"**How many times do I have to tell you to call me by my name?" **The red eyed beast replied, his voice was gruff and had an old man quality to it.

"_And how many times did I ignored it?" _Anko replied cheekily.

"**Brat." **Isobu grumbled as he let out a hearty yawn inside his container's consciousness.

"_Exactly." _Anko replied with a nod of admittance. _"So...ramen eh?" _She thought with a grin.

"Oi, Brat! Ramen for breakfast!" The violet haired female hollered, she only manage to blink before a tuft of blond hair appeared before her eyes.

"Where?!" Naruto asked in hunger, blue eyes darted side by side, he was so focused on his search thatdid not see the incoming fist heading towards his head.

"Yeowch!" The blond exclaimed as he rubbed the growing bump on his head. "What was that for? 'ttebayo!"

"That." Anko started and pointed her dangos at the lodges senbon. "Was for throwing a senbon at me and sleeping like a log for the past twenty minutes! Now, hurry up to the kitchen I'll give you another briefing for your background."

With her piece done, Anko just turned around just in time to see the back of Gaara exiting the hallway, she ate the last piece of her dango and left the baffled blond standing in the door way.

"Huh?...Oi where's my ramen! Dattebayo!"

* * *

><p>Naruto ate his meal with a pout on his face, his companions was accustomed to such facial expression in the morning, he always made that face when he was tricked into something regarding his favorite meal which was nearly most of the time... during mornings to be exact.<p>

"Anko-nee, that was just mean..." He grumbled biting his toast with a bit of whine in his voice, normally he would be up and cheery like his rising counterpart, but he had just realized that one of his two favorite things were being used against him! It was a given fact about him that he was a Ramen enthusiast, his likeness towards the food can only be matched by his likeness towards sleeping in during mornings.

"Hey, I was just doing what you're nii-san told me to do, and the empty bribe was from Kame-ojii." Anko replied as she drank her coffee.

"Isobu-san?" Hinata asked joining the conversation, getting a nod from the older female.

"Yup, he told me to bribe you with ramen..." The violet haired teen paused as her eye unfocused for a second. "...And he just said to me that if you want to blame him, just be sure to add Kurama to that list."

"Kurama?" Naruto asked.

"**I **_**had**_** to wake you up." **The fox grumbled behind his ears. **"You were sleeping like a comatose'd sloth and I, for one, want to see the public world for once."**

"_Then why the heck did you went to sleep?" _Naruto retorted. _"You could have watched yesterday!"_

"**You're still not used splitting your attention, it would look disconcerting to the public eyes if you suddenly spaced out like someone is talking in your head-"**

"_Someone __**is **__in my head." _The blond cut-off but the fox continued his tirade.

"**-Besides, your last minute spar against Haku took a lot out of me and I needed the nap anyways."**

"_Speaking of him, why was he left behind?" _The blond's question went unanswered as a rather loud bang echoed in his ears.

"Okay!" Anko interrupted as she slapped her hand on top of a rather thick set of folders, her voice took a more serious tone. "Since the commander went out for some info gathering, he assigned me to brief you guys for your background. All legal papers are already here, bio-datas birth certificates, history and some more minute details that you _will _remember."

Silence.

"All four of you, including Haku, would be enrolled into the Namimori Chu this week under the pretense of living with your adopted older brother." Anko began pointing the last tidbit of her info at Naruto. "Hinata and Haku, both of you would pose as Itachi's cousins. Gaara would become the pseudo caretaker of Hinata and I on the other hand would be posing as the crazy neighbor that would be inevitably courted by one of the two men who took residence a floor above my unit."

"Uhuh...wait- what!?" Naruto was rewinding the info he got in his head and replaying it. _Anko would be courted by either Kaka-nii or Itachi-nii? _"Waitwaitwait! Pause. For. A. Sec." Naruto interrupted, the protocol ingrained to him by his trainers temporarily forgotten. "**You **will be courted? Who made this plan? Dattebayo" His voice has disbelief all over the letters.

"Me." A male voice answered as the door opened. Kakashi entered the kitchen with a grocery in hand and surgical mask still in place. "Yo."

"Why? 'ttebayo." Naruto whined a bit confused, he knew about those kind plans, ones that were ridiculous and unbelievable that they had somehow manage to actually worked. Knowing that the plan was made by his brother, the same brother who made his unpredictable nature a basis for his ingenious plans, Naruto was really flattered when he heard the admittance, but now he was rather conflicted since...well Anko entered the equation.

"Tsunade-sama had asked me to plan ahead." Was the simple vague reply.

"What he meant to say, is that he planned this after receiving the long term mission eight months ago." Anko explained getting curious looks from the younger teens, she was beginning to connect the dots after reading her file before dawn. "Both he and Itachi was ordered to make a reconnaissance in the current residence of the 'hidden heir', so to speak."

"And?" The blond prompted, getting a hint that the explanation was just beginning.

"Maa, might as well summarize this." Kakashi sighed, rubbing his hair to a more unmanageable nest. "Eight months ago, Tsunade-sama gave Itachi and I a mission to recon the area of residence of Sawada Tsunayoshi, our target by the way, and told me to plan ahead since she gave the 'blueprints' to the grand scale plan. We set up seals all over the town to monitor the target, all reported findings are added to your mission files, so don't ask. As for our cover, I chose to be the lazy, hopeful romantic college student who took up mechanical engineering as my choice of career. While my partner in crime and colleague, had ironically chose all related courses regarding law despite his permanent occupation."

Kakashi ended with an eye-smile, not adding a certain info that the two of them had another pair of them -henged shadow clones- enrolled on two different courses, adding another woeful batch of assignments in their desks, atop of their original course _and_ mission reports. But since Tsunade made a point that they could use their cover to gather more information at the current progress in the medical and scientifical field, information that would greatly benefit the Allied Countries. With this, they will hit five birds with two stones. Kakashi was just glad that he could send their clone's projects back at home via Hiraishin Messenger, bless Minato for his genius mind, thus lessening their workload.

"Ok..." Naruto closed his eyes and. "But why will she be courted!?" He shouted still reeling in the fact that either two of his three surrogate siblings would be smooching off with the third one in the future.

"Maa, Naruto just play along for now." Kakashi amended ruffling the blond locks in reassurance. "You could come in our future 'dates' if you want... Or Itachi's."

"Eww, and see either the two of you smooch Anko, no thanks." Naruto replied flippantly, his whiskered cheeks peppered with a blush of embarrassment.

"Oi, why such adamancy against me?" Anko complained in ire.

"Because you're Anko, dattebayo." The blond sullenly replied.

"What was that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I almost forgot you were seen together with us back in the airport, how are we going to explain that?" Naruto breathed out in alarm.

"...Yeah...how?" Anko shot off the question with a glance at Kakashi.

"Our spy already took care of it." He replied airily, he had actually put genjutsu in all entrances and exits, so anyone who remembered seeing the face of his team would forget it. The video feeds were being tinkered by one of their tech experts with for the meanwhile.

"Well- Okay." Naruto grumbled. "But I still don't approve of having Anko as the girl."

"Jealous brat? I knew you look up to your brothers, but I didn't knew it grew into a crush." Anko taunted, a delighted grin on her face as she watched the shocked face of the blond blushed red and suddenly turned white in horror.

"I'm perfectly straight! 'ttebayo." Naruto replied standing up tried to attack the cackling female in retaliation.

"I think we should go back to our topic, neh?" Hinata interrupted with a question an overly sweet smile on her lips.

Kakashi just watched in amusement at the sudden silence of the two hot headed members of their group. Hinata, as timid as she can be, has a very frightening temper, whose idea was it to apprentice her to Terumi Mei anyway? Knowing that the buxom red head made the saying 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' as her death sentence to her victims.

"Okay...so where was I?" Anko asked her eyes glancing wearily at the smiling 'blind' girl across her.

"You were at the part where you will be inevitably be courted by one of the two men who took residence a floor above her unit." Gaara supplied with a monotonic voice.

"Oh, right." The violet haired teen muttered.

* * *

><p>They spent the good part of the morning rehashing their background, made some modifications, ate lunch via takeout and spent the rest of the afternoon memorizing their two-inch thick folders with a little help from their shadow clones. If Naruto would be a girl, she would marry the person who created the jutsu, they were <em>that<em> helpful.

The background history along with their mission assignment was a concoction of lies upon half lies and upon truth. In the beginning they are nins posing as Mafiosos, then they are nins posing as Mafiosos posing as civvies, and then they are nins posing as Mafiosos posing as civvies that will somehow in the near future will pose as Mafiosos again. Naruto would honestly be lost thrice over after a couple of pages if Kurama was not dissecting each paragraph into a more simple wording, despite Kakashi's consideration of simplifying the information the magnitude of them are too much for him to handle.

It was little over six in the evening that a pair of raven haired teens entered their unit. Uchiha Itachi and Yuki Haku entered the vicinity, the former looking a bit stressed as he clutched the n-inch thick law books in his hands while the former was still pristine and effeminate as always with a rolled on luggage behind him.

"Yo." Naruto greeted as he sat comfortably on the sofa, legs thrown above the side, his folder was with his clone back in his room, reviewing the files in case he forgot anything. "How's the flight?"

"A bit delayed." Haku replied, his voice lost the high tilt tone that would always mistake him for a female and now has a deeper quality in it.

"So, how's school? Mine won't start until next week." Kakashi entered the living room with a tray of tea and a cup of coffee. His voice has a bit of mirth at seeing the irate glance from the Uchiha, they had some sort of rivalry regarding their courses, it was a bit petty but it gave them something to talk about other than their current mission.

"Hn." Itachi replied as he grabbed the coffee from the tray, genius or not, no one can escape from the stress. He gave a slight nod in appreciation for the coffee and dragged his tired body in his room, he needs a rest since he has the first shift in monitoring later in the evening.

"Grumpy." The silver haired teen replied and plopped down on the sofa across his adopted brother. "Haku, your files are on the table and your room is third door on the left. Sleep off the jet lag for now, I'll give you a briefing tomorrow."

The black haired youth nodded gratefully and dragged his luggage towards his destination, leaving the Naruto and Kakashi the only two in the living room. The other pair of his team were engaged in the task of cooking dinner, it would give the two of them to practice their act as girl with an impaired vision and a quiet aide.

"What's bothering Itachi-nii-san?" Naruto mumbled as he noticed the lines on the Uchiha's face deepened since he last saw him.

"Summer break didn't go well for us since we need to catch up some subjects that we missed." Kakashi began as he nursed his tea, he was somehow able to drink without his face being seen. "The course he took had more units than mine, I was able to finish in time but Itachi has still a report to finish."

"Harsh." The blond mumbled as he winced at the imaginary work he'll do during college. "Isn't that a bit unfair for the two of you since you just enrolled at the second semester? 'ttebayo." He asked and was replied by a flinch, a reaction that Naruto was accustomed to see in every member of the Familgia after a meeting with Tsunade.

"Baa-chan, huh." He sighed out silently, unsurprised at the sullen nod from his brother. Nins have a more advance senses than civilians and he would be more surprised if his whisper was not heard.

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence until the younger one decided to break it.

"Ne, Kaka-nii." Naruto called sipping the offered tea. "How are we going to train?"

"Bee-san has already set up his dojo a couple of month's ago, it would be good for everyone to meet him now and then, his little apprentice is a spit fire I tell you." Kakashi replied as he pulled out his favorite orange book.

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed. "Konohamaru was allowed in this mission?"

"In a sense, the Sarutobi's has some minor fall out in their clan head ascension, so his parents sent him here to be trained and put his mind off clan matters. Bee-san took it upon himself to teach the child since he has the most experience when it comes to controlling their 'passenger'." Kakashi explained as he flipped a page.

"Oh, maybe I'll visit them tomorrow." Naruto mumble thoughtfully.

"Everyone! Dinner's ready!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, Tsuna-kun you're early." Yamamoto Tsuyoshi greeted as he glanced up from his work station and looked at the wall clock behind him. "Thirty minutes before 5, a bit of a record there."<p>

"Ahaha, school's closing in Yamamoto-san and Kaa-chan told me to lay off some of my jobs." Tsuna replied as he scratched his head.

"Then I hope you're not here to give me one of those letters." The sushi chef said, pulling up his knife a bit higher than what the brunet is comfortable with.

"A-actually, no." The brunet stuttered. "I'm here to tell you if I can somehow rearrange my shift next week."

"Sure you can, I was afraid that I'll be doing all the work again to be truthful." Tsuyoshi commented with a relieved smile. "My boy seems too busy for the upcoming baseball match this year...and the business is getting better than what I had used to be keeping up with."

Tsuna did not comment as he saw the older man lost in his thoughts, it often occurred when the topic went towards his son, he pulled out the plain white apron next to the cabinet and tied it on his waist and began to collect the dishes and clean the tables, it was a short work since there are some early customers already eating their meal and having small talks.

The brunet continued his job until his shift ended at 8:30, most of his earnings came from his other two jobs, which are mostly being a delivery boy and a janitor in one of the small yet well known diners in downtown. Tsuna had decided to quit those since they took up most of his energy despite the benefits, Takesushi meanwhile gave the least earnings but was the most easiest job on hand without him stressing out too much. Besides, this was the first job he had and the one where his mother suggested him to apply since she knew the owner through the man's late wife. The first week in the job was a chaos since his clumsiness has caused more damage than a rowdy customer, but he was lucky that the man has such a long patience, long enough for him to limit his clumsiness to tripping the air.

"I'm home!" A tired yet cheery voice echoed as the door slid open.

"Welcome home, son." Tsuyoshi greeted as he began to clean his utensils.

Tsuna heard the interaction of father and son as he busied himself with the garbage, the shop will be closing in in thirty minutes and he still have a late dinner with his mother back home.

"Oh, Tsuna you're still here?" Yamamoto's sudden call surprised the brunet who let out a squeak.

"T-Takeshi-san, don't surprise me like that." Tsuna sighed as he calmed his heart. "I'm just finishing up here." He added as he waved at the garbage bag filled with all matters related to fish.

"You need a hand?" The taller teen asked with a smile.

Tsuna really wanted to say yes, he was tired from fishing out the last hurrah in his previous two jobs, his body still ached from the hits Ryohei dealt him this morning and his feet is killing him! But seeing the dirt filled, sweaty and tired taller figure before him immediately shot down his urging. Resigned to the last chore of the day, he shook his head and smiled at baseball player. "No need Takeshi-san, but thank you for the offer."

"Well, if you say so." The raven hummed as he trudge back to help his father close the shop, a smile plastered on his face.

Tsuna was always unnerved at the smile the taller teen always gave, it felt fake and sad at the same time. While they were not friends, acquaintances perhaps, Tsuna would really want to help the troubled teen, but no matter how much he want to lend a hand it would only worsen the situation if Takeshi would not take the first step... However, despite the happy-go-lucky attitude the teen plastered everyday there is a stubbornness that showed now and then which Tsuna knew that held back the raven from asking someone for help...but...but maybe he just need a gentle nudge in the right direction?

"Takeshi-san...It's not healthy for your heart to keep smiling like that." Tsuna said loud enough for the wind to drift the words into nothingness.

"H-how?" Takeshi asked as he turned around to face him.

"Hm?" Tsuna faked obliviousness, honestly he was not expecting that the baseball player to hear his words. He was more used to people ignoring his whispers of advises.

Amber eyes darted to his figure and Tsuna resisted the urge to fidget under the hard gaze. He tilted his head a bit and it seems that the small action broke the spell that bounded the taller teen. "It- it's nothing." The raven replied as he scratched the back of his head.

"If you have troubled thoughts, Takeshi-san, I'm always here to lend an ear." Tsuna said as he lifted the garbage bag and went out the backdoor, never looking back to see the surprised reaction of the taller teen.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, Tsuna shouted off his goodbyes with a wave as he exited the shop using the backdoor. He whistled a tune as he walked towards his home, enjoying the night breeze the wind gave. Tsuna loved nights like this, where the stars shone brightly and the softened noise of the busy streets a riverbank away gave a peaceful effect on his tired body. The brunet blinked as he felt a soundless buzz in his pocket, knowing the only person who texts him at this time of the hour was his mother, he hurriedly fished out his phone and read his message.<p>

'_Tsu-kun, can you please buy some eggs for tomorrow? I ran out this morning and I forgot to buy it during my shopping, sorry for the sudden chore. ^ ^ _

_-Love Mom. Be careful on the way home!'_

The brunet gave out an exasperated smile and quickly replied. Not minute later his text was sent and Tsuna went his merry way to the convenience store at the edge of the downtown where the most of the nightlife in Namimori occurs. The downtown is more of a gateway to the more high-end sections of the Namimori and was sandwiched between the local school and apartments in which half of its residents were students from high-school to college, thus in more way than one, the downtown became the center of gimmicks and relaxation for the harried students. So it was not a surprise to see a group of teens, college students perhaps, exited the store with a bag of groceries that were suspiciously filled with cans of beers and chips.

He dutifully ignored the group until they all exited the doorway, he was not expecting the wink from one of the females and can't help but blush at the small attention. His mind was still preoccupied by the thought that _someone_ winked at him that he didn't saw the creature that he was about to step on. Luckily, said creature growled just in time for the brunet to snap out of his daze.

Halfway on his step, the brunet froze as he heard a very distinct growl, one that bore fear in his heart since his first encounter with the creature in his early childhood. His body began to shiver and sweat dripped steadily at the back of his neck, despite only using his sense of hearing his body had reacted in mid flight mode. A very frightened voice at the back of his mind was shouting to run but his body has other ideas, the sudden urge to see the creature had bubbled in him, he gulped for all he's worth and lowered his head and mustered what courage he manage to scrounge in his head to see the worst of his nightmare.

_A miniature dog._

The creature was small and pudgy with those large eyes, reminiscent of his encounters with it's ancestors that were called chihuahuas, the layered lines on it's face gave his small growling mouth a more vicious look than what Tsuna would like reminded him of the bulldog he once saw in the park.

_A pug._

His mind rationalized, it was just a pug. A small cute and cuddly little dog that can be carried inside a bag, it was harmless-

_A snarling pug._

His mind added, a snarling-about-to-bite-your-feet-off-pug and Tsuna would seriously question his sanity why was he debating with himself before a pug of all things, if he was not frozen by his childhood trauma of running-erm, raging chihuahuas.

"Pakkun, stop scaring the kid you big bully." A voice called out, Tsuna was inwardly question what part of the creature is _big_? As if reading his thoughts the dog growled louder.

Okay maybe not the physical size...

"Pakkun." The voice called out again with- was that a whine?

The pug let out a snort, his large round eyes stared at the brunet for a few seconds seemingly sizing him up for some inane reason that Tsuna would not really want to know. With a huff, the pug turned around and strutted back to the unknown voice, its short stubby tail wagged in glee.

His body seemed to recognize that the threat was away and Tsuna found himself breathing rather heavily at the sudden encounter. He placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart willed himself to calm down because he was safe, no bite marks nor a raging dog biting his pants into shreds.

"Maa, he didn't bite you, did he?" The unknown voice asked. The brunet had just realized that the owner was there a few feet away from him, the sudden question surprised him but he manage to bit back his shriek.

"Gomenasai." Tsuna bowed remembering that being half frozen in stepping the pug might offend the owner in some ways. "Ah, no he didn't, he...warned me before I stepped on him."

"Maa, I told him to stay by the door. It would be his fault if he was stepped on like a -ow! Would you stop that?"

Tsuna finally straightened from his bow and was finally able to see the owner of the little monstrosity. And the only thing he could describe the teen was tall, even taller than Takeshi if the degree that his head is looking up is anything to go by. Dressed in a simple black pants, a black tank top, a pair of navy blue slippers and a surgical mask. The man -teen?- was slouching and despite that recent notice, his frame still towered the brunet, the shock of windswept silver hair nearly covered the pair of gray eyes that he had mistaken for being black. He would describe the teen intimidating just by the height alone, but seeing him arguing with a foot tall dog -rather childishly at that- ruined his impression with only a glance at the scene before him.

"Ah, sorry. The little bugger has a habit of nipping...ow!. Bad dog Pakkun, now go sit beside the door." The silver haired man ordered with a finger pointing rather cliche at the appointed place, the dog impishly followed the order and gave a huff as it sat. "Now stay there and be a good boy if you want your dinner."

Tsuna watched with both amusement and apprehension, the dog's mood had somewhat changed from ire to anger in a blink of an eye, it was now glaring heatedly at both males, although it followed its owner's orders and still stayed on his hunches.

"He'll behave...for now." The dog owner announced, the last part was said unsurely as he eyed the glare the pug aimed at him. "But maybe we should hurry up and go inside before he changes his mind."

The suggestion was said hurriedly and Tsuna did not have time to verbalize his agreement and just followed the masked teen inside the building. The two released a sigh as they reached a relatively small distance and a barrier of glass away from the glowering pug.

"Maa, sorry about that, he's a bit cranky when I break his sleeping schedule." The tall teen mumbled. "I'll be out in a minute, so he won't be there by the time you go out, ja." He added with a strange upturn on his eyes reminisce of a smile, he gave a short wave and disappeared into the isle for some instant meals.

"Strange..." Tsuna mumbled as went to do his chore and by the time he went out of the store the pug was gone. He doesn't know what to describe his encounter other than weird, he would just pass it off as 'one of those days' where eccentricity was the major factor in it. He was pretty sure that he won't forget this night for at least a month if his trauma has anything to say.

* * *

><p>"Do you really have to be like that?" A deep voice grumbled towards his companion as they watched their target walk back towards the residential area of the town.<p>

"I'll shoot that question back at you." His companion replied with a huff. "Maa, you're not a puppy anymore Pakkun, there was no need of biting back there."

"I'm a ninken! And your summon! You of all people should know that I hate being treated like some toy dog and besides you deserve that for planning such a lousy way of forming a contact." Pakkun replied as he pointed at his taller companion with a paw.

"Maa, don't blame me. This was supposed to be Itachi's part." Kakashi replied as he frowned at the bite mark on his finger. "How was I suppose to know that he sleeps like Naruto when he's stressed?"

"Bah, reasons." The pug replied as he scratched his ears with his hindlegs.

"At least we left a bit of impression at him, ne." The human commented.

"By using his childhood fear?" Pakkun replied incredulously. "You, are one sadistic nin, Kakashi."

"Maa, Kokuo-san gave me pointers for mind games." Kakashi replied. "Well, first contact with target is complete...now what am I going to do with the watchers?"

"Leave them be." Another voice entered the conversation, Kakashi just made a glance at the recent arrival and acknowledge the person with a nod.

"How's you nap Itachi?" The silver haired nin replied with a reproachful look at his partner.

"Hn." The Uchiha replied.

Kakashi breathed out a sigh and rummage his unruly hair. "I'll let you off this time, finish the second half of your shift I'll take over the rest."

Itachi gave an affirmative nod and watched his superior vanish with a swirl of leaves. Despite his airy exterior Kakashi can be one hell of a strict leader, but he also valued his members' well being, a characteristic that no one knows under his feared title in the underworld. The Uchiha was just thankful for the extended two hour nap he had earlier, even a holder of legendary beasts cannot escape the clutches of stress.

* * *

><p>Vongola Familgia, was renowned to be the strongest Mafia family in the underground world. They were feared and respected due to being the one of the oldest Family dating back four hundred years in the past, many Familgias had allied themselves in search for either protection or business proposals, many were denied as their dealings did not agree with Timoteo's, the Ninth and current boss of the Familgia, idealistic vision of future. Sometimes these denials would lead into a miniature war between the two Familgia and it would always end with the Vongola winning.<p>

Nono, as they would like to entitle their boss, was a very kind man compared to the other family head. He was known for his grandfatherly vibe by his friends and family but when angered all the enemies would see is a ruthless man. The moment you have even an inkling of a relation with the Mafia, you will be marked and chained with nowhere to escape. Being born in the Mafia however, was another story, every child, even newborn, has already sinned as the blood inside their very veins was able to move because their ancestors had killed for survival...for dignity...for vengeance...for a new future.

These reasons are testaments for the bloody history of their world, some were proud, some were ashamed and some had regretted their inhumane actions, but this is their life, always filled with death, greed and thirst for power. But there is always some who had raised their hope for a better future, one where there no blood must be shed nor death to tear love ones apart, it was idealistic notion that glowed in some of the hearts of the Mafiosos.

And one of these Mafiosi is Timoteo, after the sudden death of his wife he was left to raise his three sons, Enrico, Massimo and Frederico and years after Xanxus. He raised them like how his mother the Eighth Boss would raise him, filled with love and understanding. He was proud to say that he did a good job after he saw his sons become an exceptional persons, and his vision for a bright future might just become reality with his hopes in their hands.

But he was wrong.

Enrico, his eldest son was found murdered in cold blood, not one evidence was found on who killer is. But they did found evidences about his son's dealing with the human trafficking organization. Disappointment cannot cover what Timoteo felt that day. He assumed that one of his sons had a hand in killing one of their family but seeing their sorrow and fright after telling them the news, was too genuine to be faked. He was lost at what to do, worry began to creep in his heart and he ordered his men to double the security for the heirs.

The next tragedy occurred in a very unexpected time and place since who would attack an heir in the open? But Massimo still died, he was drowned the evening of his age of majority and no evidence was still found. The video feeds only gave the image of his son walking by the pool alone -Timoteo still questioned his men why no one was with him that night...no one gave an answer-, and the next minute he slipped into the pool and drowned. Timoteo would never mark that night as an accident since his son knew how to swim and seeing him flail around as if he was being dragged underwater only added suspicion that someone had planned this attack. But after ordering a sweep in the pool, a full review of the video feeds and another round of full questioning to all of the members -volunteered by Reborn-, they still didn't found even a smudge of evidence. The only thing they found was a folder filled with Massimo's underhanded dealing under his name on top of desk after they gave up their search.

No one knew why his sons are being targeted, but the continuous revelations of crimes made by his son forced him to made an investigation against Frederico, the youngest and his first choice for the Tenth position. Timoteo had slept peacefully that night after he read that his son was clean of any crime that he had forbidden to be committed under his tenure. He was hoping that the killer would spare his son from being killed and he did...but his hopes died the second he heard that his son died on a freak accident and no body was found.

He was devastated knowing that his adopted son could never wear the ring he was willing to compromise the tradition, but the Cradle Incident happened... And he was left with no heir to pass on the title.

Until he remembered the son of his CEDEF adviser...one Tsunayoshi Sawada.

"Nono, Reborn is here to see you." A muffled voice called and the Ninth Boss of the Vongola blinked out of his musing and answered the call.

"Enter." He called out and let out a smile as he saw his visitor.

"Ninth." A squeaky voice greeted behind his secretary.

"Good to see you my old friend." Timoteo greeted as he watched the suit wearing toddler with a matching fedora walked into his view. There was a moment of silence as he waited for the hitman to say anything, just short of two tongue flicks from the green chameleon perched on the fedora.

"They're clean." Reborn said and saw the person before him became more weary as he let out a sigh. "Are you still continuing this search?"

"No more, I'm getting into my years." Timoteo breathed our as he combed his hair with his fingers. "...but this." He added with a vague hand gesture in the air. "...I just need a closure, Reborn."

"Very well." The toddler replied tipping his had. "One last job and whether I found something or not you should give this up."

"I hear you." The older man replied with a relieved smile, he pulled out a folder from one of drawers and presented his assignment to the hitman. "Oh, and Reborn as soon as you're done, I think I'll need some of your special skill set."

"Aa, so the idiot got it into your head?" Reborn replied as he plucked the folder without looking at it.

"I'm afraid so."

* * *

><p>Reborn in one of his secret hideouts with a contemplating look on his onyx eyes. Three years ago after the death of Frederico, Timoteo had asked him to make an investigation on all the Familgias either from the western and eastern side of the underground world. Reborn was tempted to deny the request since there are a hundred of Familgias in Europe alone but adding the half a thousand count if you considered the whole underground world would be too much even for an Arcobaleno like him, besides his title proclaimed him as the 'World's Best <em>Hitman<em>' not a spy.

But Timoteo did not hold the position of Ninth for nothing and by the end of the four hour debate, Reborn had found himself shaking hands in agreement to such ridiculous assignment. The only assurance he manage to get was that his assignments are already screened by the Vongola Intel and was limited to at least 75 Familgias to investigate and the paycheck was more than what his regular assignment would pay him, an incentive as the Ninth says.

In three years he investigated 45 Familgias, allies or otherwise, he was thorough in his search and with his skills he can make a full summary of the Familgia from the schedule of each family members, to the transactions that they made in the past 5 years or so. Reborn would only need one clue for his suspicion to set in and so far, none of the Familgias have a hand in murdering the Vongola heirs despite his thorough investigation. Each investigation he made, would last a week at least and a month at most. He can shorten the amount of investigation since the folders the Ninth gave him has a bit of background and some information that he can use as a basis for his search. The gathered information can either be an inch thick folder or the rare ones with only ten to twenty pages, the latter are types of information that are either from a newly made Familgia or those discreet ones that rarely shows at the radar of the well known ones like the Vongola or Cavalleno Familgias, they were the one that used most of his times since most of the information the intelligence had gathered are vague and are sometime misinterpreted.

Looking at the his recent assignment, the information that the Vongola gathered is very small, since the folder only contained _three_ pages worth of information. Reborn had hoped that the ninth had chosen some rather well known Familgia since it would lessen the time of his investigation, but as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers...

He sipped the last of his espresso and took the folder, he thumbed the name etched in front and frowned at the unfamiliar name.

_Mulinello Familgia._

Flipping the folder open, there are indeed two pages in there the first page contains the two basic information of the two bosses. Name, age, gender and physical appearance...that was it, nothing else, no info on other family members nor their abilities or relations. The second and third page meanwhile contains the rather extensive activities that they manage to procure in just twelve years since their creation.

The first one was an Underground Fighting ring, that was rather well known nowadays and even manage to spread out in other countries due to its quality and 'safe' environment. The next one was a gambling pit that turned grand casino which had also spread out all over the western side of the world. Then they built small time businesses like hot springs, hotels and entertainment bars, the latter are mostly situated in the 'red light' district of the underground world.

The only thing he can conclude based on the rather long list of the small time businesses is that the Familgia strive off of information, one of the most powerful weapons when used correctly. Reborn frowned at that conclusion, this assignment would really take a lot of time to finish. His tutorials lessons might be postponed for a while, a fortunate occurrence for his second victim.

"Mulinello Familgia...current Boss and the second head of the Familgia...Senju Tsunade..." Reborn mumbled as a smirk slowly appeared o his lips. "...Interesting"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay that's all for now, a cookie for the one who guessed the translation for the Mafia Family of the Allied Countries~**

** If anyone is curious at the age Naruto's group here ya go, all names listed below are holders of the tailed beasts so feel free to guess who holds who :D**

**Naruto-13**

**Hinata-13**

**Gaara-16**

**Anko-17**

**Itachi-18**

**Kakashi-18**

**Bee-early 40's**

**Konohamaru-8**

**That's it, search for OC's for the position of Varia's snow and night guardians are still open! please refer to the ANs on chapter two. Reviews, comments, suggestions and even a greeting would be welcome! **yes I'm that desperate.


	6. Misgivings

**AN: Sorry for the long wait~ I did plan on updating last Sunday but I didn't like what I typed so I redid the whole chapter~ I am planning to announce the Vongola and Varia's snow and night guardians by the next chapter, so anyone who is interested in submitting their suggested OC's and or anime character from other dimensions please feel free to put them in your review.**

**As for those wonderful people who tagged this story in their favorite and follow lists, you guys rock! I love ya'll to bits!**

**And a shout out to the following authors ^_^ **ShinigamiinPeru, Akayuki Novak and Mizuhara Setsuna-chan. **A call out to Mizu-chan, there is a possibility of this story having pairings however, I will only write hints and snippets since I'm a bit dense in romance, hehe.**

**Disclaimer: Omygosh! Naruto had ended! I can't believe that Kishimoto did not reveal Kakashi's face! What the heck happened to Naruto and Sasuke?! The ending should be very dramatic and epic not-not...oh If I just owned the manga thing would be very different. IF**

**ps. KHR-I don't own that T_T**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Misgivings<p>

Ridiculous...

Soft brown eyes glared at the door in a standoff, the owner of said brown eyes spared a glance at the single sheet on top of the table and glared back at the door as if daring it to do something unforgivable. The person waited...and waited...after five minutes of glaring, the owner finally came to a short agreement and shifted the paper near, clutching the pen in hand and placed its tip on the bottom where a singe line lies oh so innocently.

With a quick flourish, a glance at the door and a quick flick of the hand, the owner's signature was written in a neat and elegant script.

Done.

It's finally done.

No more of those blasted paperwork!

No more aching fingers!

And lastly, and most importantly...a blessed reunion with sake.

Ignoring the grin egging on the owner's lips, the person placed the last paperwork on the pile at the edge of the desk non-so-gently and quickly pulled out a bottle from one of the secret drawers. The bottle filled with her favorite drink was halfway across the opening when.

"Boss!"

A thunderous boom echoed in the room. The sound did not came from the door hitting the wall but from the fist that embedded itself on the table.

"Mou, Tsunade-sama that's the third desk this month." The female arrival muttered as she watched her Boss slam her head on the already cracked desk. Despite being reinforced by a seal, the desk took another bout of violence and was unfortunate to gain another damage, this time causing splinters to fly in the air.

"Shizune..." A muffled aggravated voice called at the new arrival. "Please, tell me why I am still sitting here?"

"Naruto." Shizune simply replied eliciting another groan from the blonde.

"Yes, yes...now give me my daily torture so I can drown in those paperwork." Tsunade replied. face still lying on the desk, her voice got a resigned tone and was filled with sarcasm.

"Paperwork?"

Noticing the questioning tilt in her assistant's voice, the blond snapped straight back into her sitting position and stared at the raven haired female a few feet away from her.

"You mean, I'm free?" Tsunade asked, her brown eyes widened as she saw Shizune's hand free of anything related to the word paper.

"You mean free to drink your sake, then yes." Shizune replied and watched in amusement as her boss pulled a whole drawer of sake from...somewhere. The raven ignored the twitch in her eyebrows as she realized that the blonde had been sneaking the alcohol all this time and favored the feeling of accomplishment that her boss had at least some decency to finish the paperwork before indulging her vices.

Tsunade was halfway enjoying her third bottle, when she noticed that her assistant is still standing by the door. She released a sigh and lowered her drink.

"What is it?" The blonde asked as took a more leisure sip from her bottle.

"Terumi-san called for a meeting, regarding a certain sun trying to light us from the shadows." Shizune replied and immediately saw the sudden change in her Boss' demeanor.

"Very well, contact her in ten minutes and set up the communication seals as soon as possible." Tsunade ordered, her tone direct and filled with a hard edge.

"Hai." The raven haired female replied succinctly and hurried her way out of the room.

Tsunade sipped the rest of her drink and gave a sigh in appreciation as she felt the slow heat drifting along her throat. Oh, how she missed this, it felt like a year since she drank her alcohol. She stared at the, fortunately undamaged picture frame, at the edge of her desk and a wistful look entered her eyes. It was a picture of their group back when they are still creating their Familgia, there are four of them, her, Jiraiya, Minato and a pregnant Kushina.

Her eyes lingered at her self proclaimed little sister, Kushina and the 'Primo' of their Familgia. This reminded her of the arising problem at hand.

It seems that the Vongola had set their eyes on her Familgia. She already knew about the secret investigation that the Ninth was assigning to the hitman, taking no chances at being discovered, she ordered the ANBU to immediately destroy the mission files regarding the deaths of the three Vongola heirs. She made it sure that none of the information will be heard by outsiders, Mafiosos or civvies alike through an interconnected seal made by Kurama.

As of now, the Mulinello Familgia 'did not kill the Vongola heirs'. Tsunade made that statement a truth after she ordered Hatake Kakashi to infiltrate their Intelligence. He had been successful at infiltrating, a win that resorted the ANBU to double their efforts in guarding their boundaries, but he was not able to get even a letter out to pin the Familgia from the murder. Seeing that her expectation are met, both at the security of the info and Kakashi's skill, she let her worries go.

But now, with the Sun Arcobaleno hovering at the edges of their Familgia, another bout of worry descended in her heart, not for the discovery, but the state of their mission. The mission that gave birth to their Familgia, the retrieval of their Flames of Legacy. And despite that emotion creeping in her heart, she can't help but to feel the excitement and the thirst for a fight to bloom in her heart. Reborn held the word 'Best' in his title, he gave fear even at the glimpse of his shadow in the underworld and Tsunade held the word 'Strongest' in her title, she made the nins of the Allied Nation cower with a flick of her finger. Without a doubt a meeting between the two of them would be interesting.

Keeping the smirk on her face, Tsunade stood up from her seat and walked idly towards the door with silent steps. She paused as she took hold of the door handle and glanced at the top corner of her eye.

"Cat, you know the drill." She ordered and smiled when she heard a long suffering sigh from her hidden ANBU guard.

"Hai, Tsunade sama." A muffled voice echoed in the room.

Satisfied that her cracked desk would be replaced by a new one, the blonde opened the door and exited her room.

* * *

><p>Ridiculous...<p>

Reborn had successfully stopped the twitch in his eyebrow even before it began, he heaved out a noiseless sigh and sipped at his third cup of espresso for this afternoon. He was sitting inside a nondescript cafe in one of the 'red light' district of the underworld in Palermo, where his presence is more questioned due to his title rather than his physical appearance.

Beady black eyes stared at the establishment across the street, the n-meters height of the building loomed above with a pristine yet olden looks that had blended well with the transitions between the public and the underground. The 'red light' district is known to be the 'entrance' to the underground world, if one would go deeper into the darkness, the person would never go back without losing something. It was an unprecedented fact that was never acknowledge by both sides.

But despite the known danger many people -Mafiosos and civvies alike made this part of the district as their 'capital' so to speak. Casinos, entertainment bars, motels, hotels and other businesses that works on whichever time of their night would like to get. Some of the businesses in the district were built as a cover for illegal activities, drug dealings, prostitution rings, the likes, they were ones that gave in so much income that the people who had some idea of the underworld economy kept those activities a secret. However, most of the businesses in the district are purely made by the Familgias and some civilian millionaires in order to get as much income as they can get, it became a competition to those fast rising businessmen and Bosses to see who would get the top marks, the competition was rather well known in Palermo that there was a ranking board in an online network.

The top ten were mostly consisted of the big guns of the Mafia and some lucky millionaires had also reached the list. But in the recent years one name entered the list and continue to rise in the ranks, dropping the millionaire civvies down to the bottom. The name continued to rise until it reached the 5th place in the ranking, prompting some questions from competitors. It was then the Casino revealed that they were owned by the Uzumaki Corps., a rising company in the far west that decided to start their business in Palermo.

Majority of the citizens in the area took the information at face value. Reborn on the other hand recognized the name Uzumaki from his folder, he made a call to one of his informants and was given a very short history of the Casino.

The Spiral Casino was once a gambling pit and as the years passed by the business continue to grow until they changed it into a Casino, then they began to incorporate other businesses like hotels, hot springs, restaurant and entertainment bars which added more fame under it's name. It was owned by Uzumaki Kushina and a year later the ownership was transferred to a person named S.T. And was now managed by Terumi Mei.

Reborn confirmed that the business was indeed under a Mafia Familgia not an millionaire civvy corporation as most have thought, he could only assume that S.T. would stand for Senju Tsunade. With that, as his starting point he began to hack into their account and only got business related information, staff paperworks, future plans and even the profiles of their current staff and some Mafiosos, mostly grunts, that were assigned to the establishment. However what intrigued him is that there was no network that was connected from the Casino to the main base of the Mulinello, either his assumption is wrong, their main network was well protected or the Familgia was still using mail posts...all three of those are ridiculous. The first one rarely occurs as in 99.99% chance of not happening, the second one was has some plausibility of being true but he called in a favor from the CEDEF intelligence and there was indeed no outsource connection, the third one...well no one in their right mind would mail tons paperwork if there was technology available.

This had put a small block in his path, unable to proceed much further due to lack information, Reborn decided that he needs to get inside the Spiral Casino and search Mei Terumi's paperwork, but first he needs to get the blueprints of the building and maybe observe the staff more. There is something he's missing that is happening right before his eyes... it would do him no good if he infiltrate this early.

* * *

><p>Tsunade soundlessly entered the communication's room and was greeted along with Shizune by a red haired female, an elder blonde woman and a raven haired male, the last two wore semi-formal attires and the first one was just wearing casual wear.<p>

"Boss, Terumi-san is already on screen." The red head supplied as she gestured the blonde boss towards a throne at the far end of the room..

"Thank-you, Sara." Tsunade replied with a nod of appreciation.

The Senju sat comfortably and looked at the female projected at the screen of mist. The female has an intricately styled reddish brown hair that covers the upper right side of the face, her features were more delicate than Tsunade, almost angelic. Men and some women would swoon over at the first sight of the female, they would see a beautiful, fragile and delicate lady, a model to princesses who has some unfortunate tendencies of being helpless. But unlike that last description, Terumi Mei is far from helpless, yes her feature regals delicacy but beneath those flawless skin and kind smiles, Mei is a fearsome woman, a ruthless killer and has a temper much shorter than the most temperamental nin in the Allied Nations. She hid her ire with a smile that brought shivers to her victims, and death came swiftly as the words 'Don't judge the books by it's cover.' leave her lips.

"Tsunade." The voluptuous woman greeted with a soft smile.

"Mei, anything to report?"

"The Sun Arcobaleno began to scour our borders, I assume that the Vongola had chosen our Familgia to investigate. Jiraiya's intelligence had recently updated, this would be the Sun's last mission and he will then proceed to train the Heir in Japan." The red head replied.

"How long can you postpone the discovery?" Tsunade asked, referring to the time until the Arcobaleno will infiltrate the Casino.

"A week at most, he's been watching our establishment these past days."

"Make it two, it'll take two months to infiltrate our base. Kakashi's had already began to make progress in Japan, but they need as much time as they can to make a solid connection with the heir. Seeing as the Vongola began to start their move, Reborn would hasten the investigation we must postpone his progress as long as possible." Tsunade ordered, she was not expecting that the heir will be trained this soon, they predicted that the Arcobaleno will start the training at the second semester.

"Hai, should I tag an ANBU at the Arcobaleno?"

Tsunade shook her head in negative. "No, it's too risky. The Arcobaleno has an instinct as good as our captain class ANBU, for now just observe his movements through seals. I'll send Jiraiya there incase the Sun will infiltrate earlier as expected."

"Noted." Mei replied. "Should I add more civilian staff in the Casino?" The red head asked, currently their staff are mostly composed of undercover nins, they were bound to be discovered despite their skills under a trained eye like the Sun Arcobaleno.

"Be discreet if possible, you should allocate some staff from our minor businesses and have the ANBU change their attire to suit the public eye, a sudden influx of Mafiosi should discourage the Sun to delay the infiltration."

"Hmm... Should I time this with Jiraiya's arrival?" Mei asked.

"..." Tsunade paused her reply. It would misdirect the Arcobaleno that a higher ranked member of their Familgia would visit the Casino thus the added security, but it would also give a small opening for a discovery of their main base via the sage since Jiraiya has a tendency to mouth off things when he's drunk. "Limit his drinks then, I'll send a scroll to inform him."

The blonde replied, massaging her temples as the headache began to start. "I need a sake..." She mumbled. "If that's all, Mei, thank you. Please send a report daily."

"Very well, ciao." The red head said her goodbye with a smile and the screen of mist dissipates in the air.

* * *

><p>"Oi...Naruto!...Naruto!" Kakashi called as he continue to knock on the door of his adopted brother, he was at it for nearly an hour already and the blond would be more than late if he wakes a minute pass 7:30.<p>

A very loud thunk echoed just a millisecond after his knuckle came in contact with the wooden door...Naruto's accuracy is as impeccable as ever. The masked teen thought, as he idly rubbed the drop of blood from the small puncture wound made by the senbon on the back of his hand. He tried the ramen 'bribe' but Naruto became immune on the third day on their stay, after he realized that the bribe was an empty one. The following days became challenging as the blond had slept through two hours of shouting every morning, it was only through Kurama's help that they manage to wake the blond up without any harmful incident other than a small puncture wounds from the senbons being thrown by a dead asleep nin.

The masked teen gave a sigh, Haku, Gaara and Hinata already went to school thirty minutes ago, the former was enrolled in Namimori while Hinata was enrolled in Midori the only school in the area where they teach children with special needs. Gaara on the other hand, was already accustomed to his character as Hinata's guiding hand and had dutifully followed the 'blind' girl to her school. Itachi had a seven o'clock class, Anko had already procured a job in the business district and as of now she had no relations with them, so that leaves him to do the hardest chore in their unit...waking Naruto up from his slumber.

"_Kokuo...How's Kurama-san holding back there?" _Kakashi asked his partner and mentor.

"**His voice is already hoarse..." **The five-tailed beast replied with an amused tone after he had taken glimpse at the pleads the fox begged, demanded and shouted at his container.

"_And?..." _Kakashi asked, noticing the slight pause on the reply.

"**He told me that you can use 'The Call'...whatever that is." **Kokuo replied and noticed the lone twitch in the eyebrow of his container.

"_I'd rather not do that..." _The silver haired teen blurted._ "...Maa, I guess Naruto would be absent today then."_

"_**Oi, brat don't you even are take a step away from the door!" **_A deep growl echoed in Kakashi's mind forcing him to stop at the sudden threat.

"_Kurama-san?" _Kakashi asked, the deep baritone voice that the fox usually have was now turned into a variant of growls and pitching tones...it seems that waking the lazy blond is another way to acquire a hoarse voice.

"_**Who else?" **_The fox retorted after cleared his throat. _**"Just wake the kit up, I had enough sleep in the past century already..."**_

"_Alright, if you say so..." _Kakashi replied with doubt in his voice. _"Did you tone down the seal? I don't want a repeat of yesterday." _He added, remembering the multiple air bullets and blades that was activated after Gaara forcefully used his sand to knock the door down, they were fortunate enough that Naruto -with Kurama's help- sealed the whole unit from such destruction, the only damage they got were shredded clothes and some shaken dignity.

"_**Yes."**_

The masked teen shrugged and began to weave hand signs at a rapid speed, he completed the combination and slammed the palms of his hand on the hole ridden door, slowly a subtle flow of chakra seeped throughout the unit and the jutsu began.

"YYYYYOOOOUUUUUUTTTTHHHHH! Naruto-san! Today's a wonderful day! Come on wake up and let us greet the rising with our youthful bodies!" A deep energetic voice shouted beyond the door, shattering the silence and making the windows thrum at the energy.

"Naruto-san!" Another voice greeted, this time with a light tilt in the tone. "Oh, Gai-sensei! He's still sleeping!"

"We can't have such un-youthful acts before us Lee! We must remedy this immediately!" The deep voice replied.

"O woe is the heart of such youth! Gai-sensei! I'll help you wake Naruto-san with my youthfulness!"

"That's the spirit Lee! I am proud that you think so youthfully!"

"G-Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"I'm up! I'm up! Don't f*cking hug in front of-..." Naruto's voice soon followed and suddenly came to an abrupt stop. "What...genjutsu?"

Kakashi took the cue to knock, and called out the blond. "Naru-chan! It's 7:28, hurry up if you dont't want to be late. Ah, and watch your language young man." He chided and soon a cacophony of curses and banging of drawers echoed beyond the door, heaving out a sigh Kakashi turned around and went back to the kitchen to wrap up the last bento on the counter.

Meanwhile...

"I'm late! Iamsofriggin' late! Dattebayo." Naruto curse as he continued to attack his drawers to find his uniform. "Why the heck did I thought that reading the whole book of sealing matrix was light reading!?"

"**It's because you thought that a hundred page journal of your mother was a piece of cake." **Kurama supplied helpfully.

"Oh, shut it fur ball." Naruto mumble as he zipped up his pants not bothering to answer the remark silently.

"**Seriously though, I told you more than a hundred times to stop reading it but your eyes were glued to page." **The fox retorted.

Naruto ignored the retort and rushed out of his room, shoes in hand and bag hanging roughly on one shoulder. He made a bee line towards the kitchen and grabbed the orange bento and the cup of ramen beside it, he then ran towards the front door by-passing the slouching Kakashi who was leaning against the door frame.

"Halt." Kakasi ordered as he took off the untied tie draped on the blond's collar and began to expertly tie it into a knot.

Naruto used the time to slip on his shoes and steadied his bag, he absently nodded as Kakashi began to remind him of his drill.

"I know, I know, 'ttebayo." The blond whined as he glanced at the wall clock. "No ninja stuff in public nor doodling seals on paper, don't mouth off secrets of our Nation, make civvy friends and hopefully make a contact with the heir."

"And no pranking...for now." Kakashi added and slid the tie through his adopted younger brother's head and adjusted it's length. "Good luck." The masked teen said with an eye-smile and ruffled the blond locks.

"Hai, Kaka-nii." Naruto replied and ran out of their unit. He ran downstairs and continued his way through the busy street. Weaving between vendors and rushing people with an ease, he was careful to maintain his speed as of that an athlete in case he got some curious glances.

He reached the school gates just as the last ring echoed in the now empty front yard of the school, the blond continued his pace and reached the administrative building.

"Namikaze Naruto." He announced in front of the teller, the woman only rose an eyebrow and began to rummage though the files beside her.

"Namikaze..." The woman repeated in a murmur. "Class 2-A room 306 building B." She stated as she handed the blond's schedule. "No running on hallways."

Naruto bowed in thanks and jogged towards his room meeting some student along the way with the same situation as him. This was the first time he was being formally educated, in the past he was only tutored by various nins in the Allied Nations and had numerous teachers including his godfather, Jiraiya who taught him of literature both Public and Ninja, Kurama taught him the art of sealing, Kakashi taught him ninjutsu and maths, Itachi taught him history and his father taught him languages. They were the most mentionable ones and the others were learned in passing. He was 'home schooled' in a sense.

The schools back in the Allied Nations for both their civvies and ninja started at an early age of five, the former can graduate as early as 15 while the former can graduate at 12 or earlier depending on their skills.

The moot point is, he had no idea what to do in a Public school...but as the saying goes 'when in Rome do what Romans do.'

"306...306..ah there." He mumbled as he searched his room, he took a peek and noticed that there was already a teacher in the room. He crushed the nervous feeling in his gut and knocked on the door. Seconds later the door slid open and the blond's view was filled with a balding head of the teacher.

"Ah, Namikaze Naruto...I'm a new student...?" He asked unsurely.

The teacher only rose an eyebrow and held out his hand, asking for the schedule of the blond. Naruto quickly complied and gave his schedule.

The teacher spared a glanced at the blond after he read the paper and walked back in the room. "Inside."

Naruto took a few deep breaths and followed the man.

* * *

><p>Tsuna bit back a yawn as he laid his head down on his desk, the teacher went outside the room for a moment and the whispers began as both boys and girls chatted in low volumes, some spared a glance at the new student of their class. They haven't heard anyone enrolling this school year so they took as much time as they can to ogle at the new comer.<p>

A boy named Haku who had manage to evade the wrath of their disciplinary committee, if his tied up long hair has anything to go by. He has delicate features and might have been mistaken for a girl if not for the deep soothing voice he had as he introduced himself earlier on. Tsuna was sure that the boy would have a fan club by the end of the week if the blushes on the cheeks of his classmates has a say.

"Alright class, settle down. We have another green head in our class." Toyama-sensei, their English teacher, announced rather rudely.

Behind him was a boy with bright blond hair and oceanic blue eyes, there were three pairs of whisker like marks on the bond's cheeks making his appearance a bit vulpine. He was an inch or two shorter than him if Tsuna would exclude his gravity defying hair.

"Boy, introduce yourself."

The boy frowned at the rude way he was being ordered but complied nonetheless. He plastered on a bright grin and started his introduction. "Yo, I'm Namikaze Naruto." The boy said and paused as his eyes blanked out for a second, a moment later he shrugged and continued. "I like ramen and...doodling? My family, erm..training and I dislike the three minutes time it takes to cook my meal and vegetables. My dream for the future...is to help a fox. Dattebayo."

.

.

.

Tsuna just stared at the weird introduction the boy announced, he was sure his classmates has the same expression as him. There was a cricket sound at the background the brunet was not sure where that came from, but it fitted the situation at the moment.

"Ahem..." Toyama-sensei cleared his voice snapping the awkwardness out of the room. "Alright, Namikaze-san you can sit beside Uchiha Haku."

Tsuna glance at the raven haired boy and noticed that he had not raised his hand, there was an amused glint in his storm gray eyes and a small tilt on his lips. Namikaze seems like he doesn't need to know the Uchiha as the blond made a bee line towards the empty seat beside the raven, a small scowl on his face.

The brunet saw one of his classmate placed a foot in front of the blond's way. Namikaze suddenly became the unannounced target for the bullies in the room, Tsuna knew this much. His classmate, Kenji held in a snicker but his expression turned sour the second Namikaze passed him.

* * *

><p>Naruto scowled as Kurama howled in laughter in the back of his mind. What was he suppose to do? That introduction was just as similar as the ones he said back when he was in the Allied Nation, sure he edited some words, the fox part was just blurted out at the last second, but it didn't change anything. It was a normal as his introduction as can be, but the civvies seems find it as a joke. The soft snickers of his classmates did not help his mood a bit.<p>

"..you can sit beside Uchiha Haku."

The blond caught the last part and immediately walked towards Haku, not bothering to wait for the raven to raise his hand. Naruto knew he was the one who made the cricket sound and his day would become worse if he was turned into a laughing stock back in the unit.

Naruto didn't need to glance down to know that one of boy in the class tried to trip him. Feeling a bit vindicated, he silently stomped the extended foot, hard, and he kept his expression neutral when the gleeful look the boy held turned sour. He did grin a bit as he had taken his seat and pointed a glare at his victim who was subtly massaging his foot.

"Now, let's continue where I left off..." The bald teacher trailed off. "Eto... Where did I stop?"

"1986, sensei." Haku answered. "It's where you took your Master's degree."

There was a unison of silent groans as the students' expressions turned into boredom. Quarter of the class turned back to their sleep -the heir was one of them-, half of them began to drift off in their own world and the remaining ones have enough politeness to listen to the drones of their teacher, Haku was one of them.

"_Great..." _Naruto thought sarcastically. _"I interrupted Sensei's life story, no wonder he was bitter."_

"**Seriously...doodling?"**

"_Shut up, rabbit ears."_

* * *

><p>"Ne, Naruto." Haku called out as they picked a tree where the shade was heavy. It was lunch time and Naruto dragged him out of the school to eat their bento. Haku was sure that the blond just wanted to get out of the snickering his classmates made back the classroom. "How did Kakashi-san woke you up?"<p>

"He used 'The Call' on me." Naruto shivered at the imaginary sunset background as he flopped down under one of the largest tree in the school yard and pulled out his bento.

Haku knew Naruto long enough to know what 'The Call' ,as the elders named it, was. He admit that it just might be the only alarm clock that would wake the blond from his slumber, it was unfortunate that it might be the last resort from their arsenal of ridiculousness in waking up the blond every morning.

"Tough luck then." He commented and seated himself a feet away from the blond and pulled out his bento.

There was a comfortable silence as the two foreigners ate their meal, it was only until a quarter and a half of their lunch break that someone decided to interrupt their time. It was Kenji and his friends half of them have a leer on their faces and the rest have a built that was bordering obese and an overdose of steroids in their system.

"Hey, blondie!" Kenji called, the group snickered at the insult while Haku and said blondie pointedly ignored the jeer.

"Hey idiot! I'm calling you!"

...

"Fishcake!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched and mustered himself to ignore the idiot.

"Oi, Namikaze!"

This time Naruto spared an idle glance as the group reached their tree. "What? 'ttebayo" He droned in his laid back voice. The one he manage to copy from the Hatake males when they were bored or uninterested at their current situation.

"Don't play dumb idiot." The bully sneered. "I'm just here to accept your apology for this morning."

"Apologize for what?" The blond asked in irritation. He clearly remembered the boy cowering as he glared at him from time to time during class, it seems that having a meat shield could boost ones idiocy.

"You stepped on my foot."

"Oh, that." Naruto commented, not bothering to look at the boy. "Well, sorry then." he apologized offhandedly and not an ounce of sincerity in his drone, he made a shooing motion with his hand. "Now off you go. I still have some lunch to finish."

"Ah, I need some monetary compensation for the damage blondie." Kenji demanded as he held out his hand in haughtiness. "Just look at my new shoes." He said as he raised his 'damaged' shoes directly above Naruto's half eaten lunch, the dirt in the soles of the footwear fell down and peppered the food with dusts. "See? The shine was gone."

"Ah, Kumata-san. You shouldn't have done that." Haku warned as he silently leaked a thread of killing intent directly at the bigger students making them break a sweat at the sudden cold shiver, he was the one made the bento this morning and seeing it ruined before his eyes was an insult to his skill. Kenji, on the other hand didn't see that his friends had taken a step back and answered.

"Or you'll what eh, tranny?"

.

.

.

"Oh, you just didn't said that." Naruto grimaced, as he look at the frown Haku had on his face. The raven rarely showed dislike to any person but a single degrading insult towards his figure can snap the very thick patience the Yuki have.

Knowing what is to come, the blond subtly wrapped up his ruined bento and slowly stood up from his place, inching away from the incoming chaos. He was still looking at Haku, who was now leaking killer intent at the whole group. Kenji was now sweating bullets as the raven stood up languidly, there was an undescribable smile on the long haired boy's lips that set fear in his heart.

* * *

><p>Tsuna whispered his thanks as he finished his meal, he spared a glance at his watch and saw that he has another fifteen minutes before classes resume, enough time to have a nap or review his notes. The brunet chose the former, his body was tired from the morning jog he did this morning, he was about to let his head lay down on his arms when he saw something from his peripheral.<p>

He was seated near the window gicing him a clear view of the outside and under one of the trees in the yard, he saw Kenji and his cohorts harassing someone but the shades of tree blocked him from identifying at the soon to be victims. Tsuna stood up from his seat and took a full view of the scene and what he saw was a very familiar sight of bullying. The targets were the two new students in their class, Namikaze and Uchiha.

Tsuna saw a slight tinge of red, being at the end of those actions in the past he gained some sort of 'rescue complex' when he see a bullying in action. The brunet scanned the school yard and found no students nor the disciplinary committee milling in the area. No one would see the act besides him and the perpetrators would go scat free from reprimand. He took another glance at his watch to note the time.

Ten minutes.

He had ten minutes before the class start, enough time to help the two or report the bullying to a the DC officer. Without a prompt he turned around and exited the room, he was deep in his thoughts that he did not see Takeshi was following him. As re reached the ground floor, Tsuna sprinted and directly ran to the tree where he knew Kenji and his groups are.

What he saw baffled him.

Four of Kenji cohorts were lying face down on the floor unconscious, while the remaining four were kneeling in a seiza position, including Kenji, shaking and sweating bullets as the uchiha was walking in front of them like a commander chiding his soldiers. Namikaze on the other hand was watching the scene with amusement as he ate Haku's remaining lunch.

"Now what would you say to Naruto?" Haku asked, his soft deep voice was edged with a sharp note.

"W-were s-sorry!"

"Good, and?"

"We wont do it again."

The last part was said in a mumble but it was loud enough for the raven to hear as he nodded in understanding.

"See? Saying an apology was not hard at all."

"What is going on here?" A voice called out as one of the DC member arrived, his face had a look of confusion as he looked at the four unconscious students and the other four were kneeling in seiza, the rest were standing and looking at him with an unreadable look.

"Ah, officer. Kumata-san and his friends were just showing us how to do the proper seiza." Haku replied without a stutter, the blond nodded in agreement seemingly unperturbed by the spoken lie his partner said. Tsuna and Takeshi on the other hand looked at the two as if they had an extra head.

"And them?" The officer asked as he pointed at the four unconscious students.

"Sleeping 'ttebayo." The blond replied chirpily.

"Sleeping? On the ground?" He asked with a skeptical look.

"Hai."

As if on cue, one of the unconscious bully began to snore loud enough to be heard by all of them. The officer just shook his head and spared another glance a the group and saw Tsuna and Takeshi a few meters away.

"Sawada!" He called snapping the brunet from his musings. "Are they telling the truth?"

"A-ano." Tsuna stuttered, he wasn't sure what is happening right now. He glanced at the new students and the two were looking at him with a pointed look, mostly Haku while the blond looked at him with a plead in his eyes.

"Ahaha, yep officer!" Takeshi answered with a laugh, surprising the brunet who just realize that he has a company.

"Hiie! Takesi-san!" Tsuna squeaked as he turned around.

The officer sighed and glanced at the group. "Classes starts in five minutes, hurry up and return to your classrooms." He ordered.

"Hai." Haku replied and the group watched the DC officer round a corner and disappeared from their sight.

The raven spared another warning glance at Kenji, who cowered at the attention. "Come on Naruto." He called as he began to walk away from the tree.

The blond quickly met the raven's pace and held out the Uchiha's unfinished bento in his hand. "You want some?"

"I lost my appetite, you can finish it."

"Sweet, thanks. 'ttebayo."

The new students reached Tsuna place, the brunet looked at them with confusion and glanced at the four kneeling bullies. "What about them?"

"Their legs fell asleep and thanks for the save by the way, 'ttebayo." The blond answered as he looked at the tall raven.

"No problem, ahaha. I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." The baseball player announced, Naruto looked at Tsuna expecting the brunet to introduce himself.

"Ah, Sawada Tsunayoshi, you can call me Tsuna." The brunet stated with a small bow.

"Well you already know us, but it wont hurt to say our names again." The blond replied as he pointed at himself with his eating utensil. "Namikaze Naruto, just call me Naruto. 'ttebayo" He then pointed the chopsticks at the raven. "He's Uchiha Haku."

"We should get going now, classes should start in any minute." Haku said and the four began to walk back to their room in awkward silence.

Tsuna spared another glance at the four kneeling students and wondered how long until they can stand up again, Kenji and the other three were still sweating bullets and the other four were dead asleep. Their entered the building with him and Takeshi at the front, the new students followed them a few feet behind.

*How long until the seals disappear?* The raven signed, referring to seals the blond slapped at the four bullies during the skirmish.

*Ten minutes, the weight decreases by the minute. They could move if they muster enough strength, but I think ten kilos were too much for them.* Naruto signed back with a smirk on his lips.

* * *

><p>Their last subject for the day was Mathemathics and Naruto found a great dislike at the teacher, Nezumi, just five minutes into the lesson.<p>

"...It seems that most of the students in the class were barely able to pass the exams. Some of you didn't even pass." Nezumi muttered as he stared at each student. Some flinched at the insinuation. "I am baffled why you were even attending this class."

The silence was deafening, as most of the students cowered at the insulting situation.

"Kumata, Sawada, Chiharu, Yamamoto and Myojin." The man announced. "Your scores are pitiful, I assume that you spent the summer taking make-up classes?"

The owner of the names nodded. Naruto glanced at Tsuna and saw him clenching his hands, a seat behind him Yamamoto glance up in his sleeping position with a confused look. The blond rose an eyebrow in a silent question to the baseball player.

'Tsuna passed.' The tall raven mouthed. Takeshi knew this since Tsuna spent the summer doing part time jobs.

"I see that we have two new students. Namikaze and Uchiha." Nezumi continued as he adjusted his glasses. "I expect high scores in your tests unlike the students I mentioned."

Naruto did not acknowledge the silent insult, Haku did not even looked at the teacher.

"Fortunately the principal made a motion that a group study should be made to help you get a better result." Nezumi announced ignoring the whispered murmurs on his students. "Be grateful for that. Now group yourselves into four and submit your names by the end of class."

The students took the cue to search for their group mates and in a short amount of time the noise began. Naruto already knew that Haku is already with him so he didn't bother to ask the raven, no one had approached them for the moment too busy grouping themselves with their friends. He glanced at Tsuna and saw that no one had approached the brunet. He stood up and walked towards the teen.

"Wanna join us?" Naruto asked as he sat on the brunet's desk. "Me and Haku are short on two members, 'ttebayo."

"Ah, sure." Tsuna nodded gratefully, the stigma of his past name still lingered.

"Hey, can I join?" Takeshi asked. "My friends at the club are already full." He reasoned as he glanced at club members who were avoiding an eye contact with him.

"Welcome." The blond grinned. "Oi Haku, did you finish listing our names?" He asked and the long haired raven nodded.

"Ne, Naruto are you friends with Haku before the school started?" Takeshi asked. "You seem to know each other."

"Oh, my brother and their cousin shared a unit we were bunking in. We're pretty much freeloading at them for the whole year." He replied with smile.

"Their?" Tsuna asked joining in the conversation.

"I have a cousin who is attending the Midori, they had a program for teens with 'special needs'." Haku inserted as he joined the group, he pulled out the empty seat beside Takeshi and made himself comfortable.

"Oh." The brunet does not know how to reply to that.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan is a very independent girl. Dattebayo." Naruto snickered. "She may be blind but she can see a lot of things around her."

The two seem to have an inside joke as Haku tilted his lips at the hidden message..

"Well if you say so." Tsuna replied. "Not to be rude, but why did you transfer?"

"Homeschooled, my old-man wants me to experience some formal education and handed me off to my brother, he's in college." Naruto explained.

"Family matters." Haku added.

"Well, enough about us, 'ttebayo." Naruto began veering the questions. "Takeshi told me that you passed the exam, why did the teacher told otherwise?"

Tsuna suddenly felt nervous, the two new students were nice enough to include him in their group but would they turn their back on him if they knew his past as a no good student? He was hesitant and maybe even afraid of revealing such secret, but still...he should give them a chance.

"In the past people called me 'Dame-Tsuna'. I had low grades, clumsy and bad at sports." Tsuna began. remembering his past misgivings. "So they avoided me as much as they can, some assumed that I always let down the people around me." The brunet explained with a shrug.

"They're stupid. 'ttebayo." Naruto commented, Haku agreed at the statement with a nod. "You're a nice guy, Tsuna. You even tried to help us from Kenji's group, even you were late. But the thought counts right?"

"H-how?" Tsuna asked baffled.

Naruto grinned. "I saw you peeking at us in the third floor, you just suddenly disappeared and arrive minutes later. It's not hard to guess what your intention is."

"Ah, well..." The brunet said rubbing his blushing cheek with a finger.

"Alright class." Nezumi called getting the attention of every student. "I want you to answer the problem in pages three and four. Work as a group and submit your answer individually."

"Hai sensei." Some students replied.

Five minutes later the bell rang and student began to gather their belongings and rushed of out the room, some passed at their list on their way out.

Haku, Takeshi and Naruto waited for Tsuna to finish arranging his things, they were the last group to hand out their list.

"Are you sure about this?" Nezu asked the new students as he spared a condescending glance at their chosen group mates. "Those two might pull down your you let me, I can make some changes." He added as if the two teens were not in the room.

"It might be the other way around sensei, who knows?" Naruto replied with a smile. "They are fine the way they are right now, but someone does need a change. Dattebayo." The blond pointed a hard look at the Math teacher and swiftly went out of the door.

"Ja, see you tomorrow sensei." Haku waved politely and followed the blond, Tsuna and Takeshi were a few steps behind, both of them stared at the back of the new students and saw them in a new light. Perhaps the new school year wont be bland after all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That's all for now, hehe. <strong>That's it, search for OC's for the position of Varia's snow and night guardians are still open! please refer to the ANs on chapter two. Reviews, comments, suggestions and even a greeting would be welcome! <strong>yes I'm that desperate. **


	7. Maths&Bullets

**AN: Ugh, this is the third time I write this AN...stupid Chrome keeps crashing on me... Anyway, as i promised before I'll announce the OCs in this story, they will be holding the position of the Snow and Night guardians of both the Vongola and Varia Familgia. Keep in mind that I won't tolerate any of you bad mouthing those readers who took their time reviewing this story. You have six chapters to voice out your thoughts about this decision.. but I'll make an extension for the upcoming entrance of the OCs, I'll give up until the next two chapters to anyone who want to voice out their opposition and complaints for this decision. ^_^**

**Note: Their biography will be posted in my account sometime this week. please watch out for it.**

**Vongola:**

**Snow**-Reino File (Male)

**Night- **Kuria (ShinigamiinPeru- last name? help?)

**Varia:**

**Snow- **Bugia (Female)

**Night- **(no had yet to suggest; although I'm banking on using one of the canon character in KHR- so suggestions?)

**Well that's done, so I'll proceed in thanking those readers who viewed, tagged this story in their favorite and followed lists. You guys rock!**

**And shout out to those who reviewed! **ShinigamiinPeru **and **Akayuki Novak~

**Disclaimer: I don't own KHR and or Naruto.**

**Enjoy~**

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><p>Chapter 7: Maths &amp; Bullets<p>

Tsuna stared at the ominous building before him, he looked at the screen of his phone and checked if the address is right, deeming that it was indeed the right place he glanced at his right where Takeshi is admiring the building by letting out a low whistle.

"Huh, Naruto and Haku sure does enjoy freeloading their relatives if that is where they are living." He commented, the brunet agreed with a nod.

The building was a condo unit in one of the high end area of the Namimori business district, reaching up to forty stories and more than a hundred meters tall the Spiral Tide is one of the tallest building in the area. A month had passed since the school has started and Tsuna still knew nothing about the new students' lifestyle.

But he did found something about Naruto and Haku's individual quirks.

For one Naruto was a vindictive blond, he pranks bullies and teachers alike who he saw was misusing their strength and authority over their victims, granted that they deserve it but the brunet found it exasperating that even Naruto would 'help' even a stranger. One of the highlights that Tsuna remembered very well, was when Nezu critiqued Kenji on his test scores, almost using every subtle way of humiliating the bully in class, Kenji walked home that day without his usual self, head held low and depressed. But on the next day, the math teacher arrived in school with a neon orange hair so bright that even his degrading sharp tongue did not worked its wonder on the students he was humiliating. Tsuna knew that it was done by Naruto since the blond gave hints all throughout the morning.

Aside from Naruto's pranking skills, the blond was also a ramen addict, a very energetic and sporty person, and also a very heavy sleeper. The last one was rather well known to all of the students in his class, when Naruto took a nap in their Literature class one day and slept all throughout the afternoon, not even a thrown chalk and slap of a book in the head woke the blond up from his slumber. It was only with the help of Haku placing a cup of ramen in front of of the blond's sleeping form that Naruto manage to go home that day.

Haku on the other hand is a very quiet person, he spent most of the time listening and observing whenever they hangout, he was also the cook in their unit, a good one at that. But one of the things that Tsuna learned from Haku is that he has an eidetic memory, able to recall every information that he learned. Haku utilized this gift very well and had become the so called 'walking dictionary' in their small group. Although he rarely gives information unless he deem that they aren't able to get the answer by themselves.

The long haired raven, was also an epitome politeness and patience, he was always listening to the teachers, even if the droning tone has already made most of the students sleep. His patience was very thick, Tsuna knew this on the first day of their group study session in maths since Takeshi was, in a sense, dense when facing the equations. The baseball player was a very slow learner and needed to be guided in each steps in the formula lest his thought wander, Naruto nearly lost his head and decided to help Tsuna before his temper snap, while Haku persevered and manage to teach the lesson to the tall raven by the time they went home.

And this is one of the reason that they are infront of the Spiral Tides, they will have a very long test in mathematics on Monday and they were desperate for help. They asked their two group mates for a study session and Naruto suggested that they held it in their unit since they disturbed the peace in the restaurant due to their ruckus. Tsuna did suggest his home but Nana told him that her friends back in highschool would visit and could not accommodate his friends.

So that leaves the new student's place open, Tsuna was unsure what to do now since the building looked prestigious and both of them were only wearing jeans and shirts. They looked rather out of place. He looked at the screen of his cell phone and noted the time.

10:37

They had decided to meet at 10:30 and they are running late.

"Maybe, we should give them a call?" Tsuna asked raising his head a bit to look at his companion.

Takeshi was about to reply when Tsuna heard a very terrifying sound. He instinctively took a step behind the taller teen and glance at the direction of the noise.

"Huh?" Takeshi could only reply and followed the gaze of the brunet.

A few feet behind them was a pug.

A very cute pug.

A very cute and growling pug.

"Maa, Pakkun stop doing that." A lazy voice drawled and the brunet spared a glance at the owner.

It was the silver haired masked teen he met back in summer, his silver hair was still as much gravity defying as his. He was wearing a simple jeans, a long sleeved shirt and a pair of black converse. Trailing behind him was another teen, a few inches shorter than the masked one, he was wearing a pair of black slacks, a deep red button up shirt and a pair of formal shoes. He has a long raven hair that was tied in a low ponytail with bangs framing the sides of his face, a pair of onyx eyes and two lines that ran from the base of his nose until his cheeks.

The two were polar opposites if they stood side by side, one was a very lazy person with all the slouch he was doing and the other was, Tsuna could only describe as, sharp, with straight posture and impeccable fashion. Which, only reminded of the blond of their current dilemma.

"Ah, it's you." The masked teen announced and rose an eyebrow.

"H-hello." Tsuna asked still glancing at the pug in wariness.

"You're Sawada Tsunayoshi right?" The taller teen asked, getting a surprised look from the middle schoolers. "Naruto talked to us about you." He added in a brief explanation. "And you're Yamamoto Takeshi right?"

"Yep." The baseball player answered. "You know Naruto?"

"Yep." The masked teen mimicked with his eye-smile. "He's my- please wait a sec."

The silver haired teen's reply was cut short when a ring tone rang beyond his pockets, he reached out and flipped the device open answering the call.

"Yo...You're classmates are here...ok...no...I'll buy them later...*sigh* Naruto you can't eat ramen right now...It's you fault that you missed breakfast...just eat some fruit in the counter..." The masked teen replied ruffling his hair in a mess "...Hinata-chan will be cooking for lunch, you don't want her in a bad mood, do you?...I think so...We're coming up right now. Ja" He ended the call and glanced up and began muttering something incomprehensible.

"Hm, where was I?...Ah, as I said I'm Naruto's brother, Hatake Kakashi." He explained, getting another surprised look from the younger teens.

Tsuna had imagined a more mature looking blond teen, not... But if that's Naruto's older brother then that means the raven haired teen was Haku's...

"And that's Uchiha Itachi, Hinata and Haku's cousin." The masked teen added, the onyx eyes teen only nodded at their direction. "Well come on, they've been waiting for the both of you." The teen voiced out and nudged the pug at it's hind legs.

The group entered the building, ignoring the stares from the other occupants and continued their walk until they reached the elevators.

"Stupid death traps..." Tsuna heard the taller teen mutter as he pushed a button, the number 39 glowed a bright orange before it began to travel upwards. The elevator music began it's tune making the situation a bit less awkward.

Tsuna's eyes are still trained at the pug, which was now getting a bit fidgety in it's actions, it's short tail kept thumping repeatedly and glanced up to it's owner. The said owner meanwhile, pulled out a small orange book and began to read, slouching at the wall in a comfortable fashion. The long haired one just...stood.

"Ah, Hatake-san." Takeshi suddenly called getting the attention of the occupants. "Um...eto...Is Naruto your adopted brother?" He asked rubbing the back of his head in nervousness.

"Hm?" The masked teen spared a lazy glance. "It's the other way around actually."

Tsuna tilted his head, it was rare to see a family adopting a child first and bearing one some years later. It has some tendency that the older adopted child would feel left out and would be consequently ignored in favor of the 'blood' borne child, it would always lead to some problems that would destroy the bonds in family.

"Naruto's mother was my godmother." The silver haired teen added with a subdued tone. "She adopted me when my real family had some...unsuspecting disaster happened." Which was a lie, his family, or more like clan, was as active as ever deaths were far in between and usually happened to the ANBU's who were tasked a mission in the Public world.

"Oh...sorry." Takeshi softly replied, getting a soft nod from the masked teen.

The elevator made a small ding and the door slowly opened revealing a hallway. Tsuna glanced around and noticed that there are only two doors in the floor, one was the fire exit and the other was uniquely carved wooden door right in front of them. Suddenly the said door burst open and out walked Naruto, still clad in his frog printed pajamas and a plain white shirt with a red swirl in the middle, the design reminded Tsuna of the condominium's insignia.

"Yo! We're waiting for you to come up since Haku saw you standing before the building." The blond intoned, Tsuna wondered how their classmate know that it was them since he was pretty sure that they're as small as ants a hundred meters away.

"Ahaha, gomen gomen." Takeshi replied with a smile much more genuine that what he gives when he's hanging out with his baseball peers.

"Anyway come in, Haku's already set the table." Naruto said with small flourish bow, getting raised eyebrow from his visitors. "Welcome to our humble abode."

Tsuna gave a small quirk in his lips as he entered the room and was amazed at the interior. The unit was luxurious with large space, the was a wall of glass in one of the side, there was a glass door at one end leading to the balcony showing the range of the Namimori forest on the west side, the interior design was modern with lush carpets and furnitures. There was a flat scrren TV on one side of the room surrounded by game consoles and trays of DVDs, on the opposite was a large bookshelf filled with law books and engineering related textbooks, there were some novels in there as well.

"Whoa." Takeshi commented snapping the brunet from his thoughts.

"Yeah, whoa." Naruto added with a grin as he made small pat on the baseball player's shoulder, which was pretty funny since the blond was shorter than the raven. "We better get started, lunch would be in an hour."

"Wait, Hinata-san, is your cook right?" Tsuna asked, just coming up with a realization. "I thought you said she was blind?" Takeshi added his two cents by looking at Naruto with a confused glance.

"Yep, but she has Gaara...ah speak of the devils." The blond said as he looked at one of the side where a hallway reached out of the living room.

A pair of teens entered, the first one was a girl about their age followed by a boy a bit older than them. The girl has a deep blue hair nearly that was nearly black and wore a pair of black khaki shorts, a purple tank top that was covered by a thin jacketand a pair of sandals. Tsuna blushed at the features of the girl but suddenly stopped dead when he saw the girl's eyes. They were pale lavender nearly white, with no pupils. It gave Tsuna an eerie feeling when they were set on his figure, they seem to see something much deeper, knowing that the girl is blind just added to the effect.

The boy meanwhile has an average height, wearing just the regular jeans and t-shirt ensemble but in more earthly colors. He was pale with short cropped red hair, his eyes were a vivid green and surrounded by black rings, which reminded the brunet of a panda bear, he had no eyebrows making his appearance a bit unique.

"Yo, Hinata-chan, Gaara, meet my class mates." Naruto called out and gestures at them. "Sawada Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto Takeshi." The brunet bowed when his name was announced and Takeshi gave a cheery wave.

"Nice to meet you." The blind girl greeted with a bow, she seems to know their position since she didn't stray far off from their direction. Gaara on the other hand just gave a minute nod.

"Introduction done, lets go now. Don't worry about Hinata-chan, she has enough practice in the kitchen." Naruto impatiently said as he nudged his classmates towards the hallway. The blond suddenly paused and glanced back at the still open doorway."Ne, Kaka-nii could you help us tutor, these two needs a bit of a push."

"Maa, you two could do it by yourselves." The masked teen replied with an offhanded shooing motion his eyes still stuck in his book.

Tsuna looked alarmed when he noticed that the pug was nowhere near it's owner, his eyes glanced around the room and finally found the dog being belly rubbed by Hinata.

"B-but..." Naruto retorted with an apologizing glance at his visitors. "They're hopeless...sorry..." Naruto whispered the last part getting a shrug from the two sice they are the truth, they do have difficulty in grasping the concept of the problem. "I mean you have an engineering degree, I'm sure you could give them some tips and...and- and you're a genius and smart. You even manage to even teach _me _maths."

"Flattery won't get you no where, Naruto." The silver haired teen replied but he did close his book with a snap and began to follow them. "I'm sure their heads are not hard as yours."

"They are!...sorry" He apologized again, not bother to reply at the insult thrown at him by masked teen. "Just try tutoring them for half an hour, you'll see."

* * *

><p>"Well?" Naruto asked a bit smugly, there was a slight tilt in his lips as he watched the twitch on his brother's eyebrow.<p>

"...I stand corrected then." Kakashi replied with a huff as he observed his temporary tutees. He found out that the heir had skipped some fundamental parts in the past lecture making his procedure quite lacking and thus the errors. Kakashi just lent him one of the basic algebra textbooks and let Haku do his magic.

Takeshi...to put in bluntly, was pretty unmotivated, -read hopeless-. His answers were mostly lucky guesses and if told to solve one problem the equations had somehow turned into scribbles. In the end, Kakashi gave the baseball player some tips in getting the answers in the quickest way and if the problem does not have any 'shortcuts' then he's going to take another summer class.

The baseball player was currently solving a worded problem given by Naruto, and was still solving it for the past five minutes.

"Done!" Takeshi announced raising his worksheet in the air.

Kakashi just wordlessly held his hand out and hoped that there is no scribbles in it.

But there was.

It was a scribbling of a baseball with some haphazardry drawn lines...and numbers...and equations...wait a minute.

It was only then that Kakashi realized that it was indeed a diagram and right beside it was the solution. He read the problem and did the computation in his head, he then comapared his answer with the younger teen and was amazed that he got the answer right, no guesses or some randomly thrown number, just a legit computation along with a legit answer.

The masked teen spared a glance at the only blond person in the room and saw the knowing smile plastered on his lips. Kakashi rose his eyebrow in askance.

"I gave the baseball problem a go, I thought that Takeshi would focus much more if there was something related to his favorite sports." Naruto explained with a grin. "So how did it go?" He asked.

"Ahaha, It was surprisingly easy as long the givens were already there." Takeshi said with a laugh.

'Sneaky brat, now that I have some basis for Takeshi to start on, a simple analogy with baseball and variables should do the trick.' Kakashi thought as he looked at the worksheet. "Still unpredictable as ever, Naruto."

"I aim to surprise, scarecrow." Naruto replied cheekily as he handed out his worksheet.

* * *

><p>Beyond the sea of Palermo the sun began it's descent peppering the dimming sky with shades of red, orange and violet, minute by minute the stars began to show, their twinkling lights were reflected one by one on the calm waves of the waters below. It was a wonderful scene that shows the beauty of nature.<p>

This was scene that one Sun Arbaleno was appreciating as he glided through the air with the help of Leon, the wind was in his favor and within an hour he will reach his destination, the main base of the Mulinello Familgia.

A week had passed since he manage to get the information he needed from the Spiral Casino, and admit that it was by far one of the most challenging assignment he had. There were many set backs leading him to postpone his infiltration as there was an increase in mafioso in the area a day into his observation, there was also a sudden, but subtle, transfer in the staffs- mostly females- overnight. A suspicious and unpredictable move that did not bode well and he decided to lay low for a while.

Apparently there was an arriving VIP in the casino, Reborn assumes that the person was either a high ranking mafiosi from a familgia or a one of Mulinello's officer coming for an inspection.

However, the name Jiraiya Sennin did not rang any bells in his data and Reborn concluded that his latter assumption is correct. The man was obviously well known in the Casino especially the staffs and the mafiosi, it made sense of the sudden increase in the security. But he didn't know what to make of the sudden change in the staff, especially the increase of the female population.

His answer came the following night, when he heard the ear splitting shrieks inside the building, a very commendable feat since he was a street away from the entrance of the Casino. Not a second later a mob of females ran out of the door, clad only in towels and clutching their weapons raging from slipper to broomsticks, even the female staffs joined the mob shouting their past unfortunate meeting with the white haired man. Said perpetrator was running gleefully on the very front of the mob, shouting praises of the female body, which only manage to enrage his soon to be attackers.

The commotion ended shortly, resulting to a beat up VIP and some restraining order from the manager herself, Terumi Mei. It seems that the Jiraiya person was pervert, a rather well known at that.

It had taken him a week and a half to complete his observation, noting the schedules of the staff and security detail, their schedule is changed randomly and concluded there were no 'openings' he can use to time his infiltration. Reborn had decided to wing it, he was already postponing enough, another day spent staking out the building is another day away from tutoring the Vongola heir.

A minute after his decision, he made a plan...the question is how he would do it.

* * *

><p><em>ooOOFlashBackOOoo<em>

"_Oh, little boy are you lost?" A blonde asked as she crouched down to look closer at the cute brunet toddler._

"_Mama." Reborn said, raising his hands to be lift up. He had dyed his hair an hour ago and changed his hair style, his appearance was changed enough that the mafioso he manage to sneak pass by did not recognized him._

"_Uwah, how cute!" The female squealed and lift the toddler up. "But, sorry I'm not your mama."_

_Reborn tilted his head and began to made sniffling noises. _

"_Ah, d-don't cry." The blonde panicked as she began to sway the toddler. She began to glance around the entrance of the hot spring area and found a female staff. "Miss! Miss! I need some help."_

"_Anything that I can do Miss Yvon?" The staff asked looking at the tear faced toddler. _

"_Uh, yes." Yvon answered. "This child is lost and he is looking for his parent, he seem to mistaken me as her mother."_

"_Oh, that might be a problem..." The staff pointed out. "Little boy what's your name?" She asked softly with a calming smile._

"_R'nato..." Reborn replied rubbing his eyes in a cutely fashion._

"_Renato?" The staff asked again, and the Sun Arcobaleno nodded. "Do you know your Mama's name?"_

"_Mama." Reborn repeated and clutched Yvon's blond hair._

"_I think he only remember his mother's hair color.." Yvon concluded with a tender tone while looking at the child, she did saw the dead panned look the staff gave her._

"_Anyway, I'll ask the staff in here if they saw a blonde woman searching for her son." The female said. "Meanwhile, do you want me to take care of him for the moment?"_

"_Thank you. I still have a spa session to attend to." The blonde replied and gently held out the toddler, still looking at the his expression if he was going to cry again. Yvon released a sigh as the toddler didn't made any noise of complaint._

"_Come here little guy, we'll go search for your mama." The staff cheered as she carried the boy and said a short goodbye to the blonde. "Do you want a candy, hm?"_

_Reborn scrunched up his nose, as a coffee enthusiast, sweets were not on the top of his list._

"_No? Haha, we'll I bet you're hungry." She stated, Reborn was about to deny that claim but his stomach betrayed him by letting out a soft grumble. That had somehow reminded him that he did not eat any meal in the past five hours._

"_Ahh, see. You must have been wandering for a while..." She conversed, making small jumps in her footing,forcing Reborn to blurt out a giggle. "Cute." She began to walk towards the main kitchen. And the toddler was greeted by the noise of the harried cooks, the sizzling and bangings of kitchen ware echoed throughout the area._

_One of the chefs, a female glance at their direction and her gaze landed on the toddler, she then began to walk towards them and shouted at one of the cooks to take over her area. _

"_Suzanne what's the meaning of this?" She asked the staff gesturing at the wide eyed toddler she was carrying._

"_I just need to fill up the kid, he's lost. Ah, could you watch him over for a moment? I just need to report this to Miss Mei." Suzanne said with a smile. Reborn subtly perked at the mention of the head manager._

"_I'm a chef not a babysitter." The female chef replied, crossing her arms._

_Reborn acted intimidated and hugged Suzanne, forcing another emotion to show, he let his eyes water and added sniffles to complete the frightened picture._

"_Ah!... Shhh...Shhh. Czena you scared him!" Suzanne slightly chided as she swayed a little in her position._

_The chef, now named Czena, let out a huff. "I'll make him something, the boy's a customer anyways." She huffed out. "But I won't be babysitting. Catrina!" She called out snapping at one of the waitresses walking through the door. "Spread the word, lost toddler, aged 2 brown hair, onyx eyes and blonde hair woman for the mother!"_

"_Yes chef!" the waitress replied cheekily and walked out of the kitchen, said chef just scoffed at the antique._

"_You." Czena pointed out at Suzanne. "With me, you can report later."_

_Reborn glanced at the staff carrying him questioningly and Suzanne spared another shrug and began to follow Czena._

_Minutes later, Reborn found himself being spoon fed with soup. As degrading as it was for his frightening title, he obliged as he opened his mouth, at least the food here is excellent. Suzanne was halfway through his bowl when there was a knock at the door of the private kitchenette._

"_Come in." Suzanne called out and the door opened, revealing a mafiosi dressed in a fashioned suit along with a pair of tinted glasses._

_The man suddenly paused and Reborn saw a twitch in fingers, "Just a moment." He said and turned around, the Toddler saw him pressing his earpiece and apprehension began to set in. Was he already found out? His disguise was impeccable and he was sure that he is unrecognizable. He fingered the green pacifier on his neck, giving a silent signal to Leon to be alert._

"_Suzanne, follow me. Miss Mei heard that a lost child is with you." The man said after he finished communicating._

"_Sure." Suzanne agreed and lift Reborn form his perch on the high chair. She then followed the man as he began to lead them to out of the kitchen and into one of the elevators near the casino._

"_Did anyone found his mother?" Suzanne asked breaking the comfortable silence._

"_I'm afraid not, none of our female customers have yet to file a missing child." The man replied as he saw the rather put out expression of the staff. "Don't worry, there are a lot of customers today, it would only take time for us to find the child's mother. He didn't gave you trouble, did he?" He asked as he stepped aside to let the couple out of the elevator before going in._

"_No, Renato was a very good boy." She complimented, rocking her arms again and Reborn let out another giggle._

_The man stared at him with an unreadable look, but Reborn feigned ignorance._

_Their ride in the elevator did not go smoothly as the Sun Arcobaleno liked, there were some visitors as well as a group of drunk college students who joined the ride, they dropped off themselves off in intervals. They reached the 50__th__ floor and the door let out a ding before opening._

_Reborn was greeted by a rather unique interior design. The walls were aligned with scrolls of eastern texts along with mater tall vases which were also etched with unique and unknown texts, the floor was covered with lush red carpet and the ceiling were filled with simplistic chandeliers. It was a far change in the luxurious interiors of the previous floors and it gave him something to ponder about the Spiral Casino's manager. _

_So far his impromptu plan was somehow working, considering that he's on his way to the manager's office and had been unharmed in any physical sense, it also helped that his disguise was able to hide his prominent hair style. Although the suspicious glances that their guide is giving him was a bit concerning, there is a huge possibility that he's already discovered and is currently being lead into a trap. Escaping the vicinity will be hard since he's more than 500 meters above the ground and the hallway lacks any windows to jump out from. _

_The walk towards the manager's office was short and the group was greeted by another pair of mafiosi who stood guard on each side of the door. Their guide only nodded and knocked on the door._

"_Come in." Muffled voice ordered._

_The man obliged and opened the door. The room had the same interior as the one in the hallway, but there some differences, for one there was a set of sofas at the center,a large bookshelf on the right filled with...well books, the windows were partially covered, there was another door at the left side and a few feet before them was was the manager herself, Dressed in a simple business suit, that showed he voluptuous. Despite the restricting attire, the red haired woman moved with grace befitting of a queen._

"_Suzanne, is he the lost child?" She asked as she silently gesture the staff to sit on one of the sofa. Suzanne obeyed and cradled the toddler on her lap. Their guide meanwhile closed the door and stood guard before the exit._

"_Yes." the female staff replied. _

"_Report." Mei said and Reborn noticed a shift in the posture of Suzanne as she began to relay her experience starting from the moment she was called by Yvon until she was called in by the security._

"_I see. Thank you, Suzanne. You can go now, I'll watch over him for the moment." Mei said with a reassuring smile. "Vespa, has already contacted the security to search for the woman."_

"_Thanks Miss Mei. See Renato? Your Mama would be here in a moment." Suzanne said while grinning at the toddler. "I'm leaving you here with Miss Mei, so be sure to be a good boy."_

_Reborn nodded and sat comfortably as the staff placed him on the sofa as she stood up. She suddenly she nodded her thanks again and smiled at Vespa who opened the door for her. However the second she stepped out of the room, someone barreled into her forcing her to shriek at the collision._

_It was Jiraiya, his white hair was in a disarray along with his clothes that has some tears on the sleeves and he was sporting a black eye._

"_Ah, sorry miss." He apologized as he help the woman up and subtly cupped her behind._

"_Eeek! Pervert!"_

_A very loud slap echoed and the fuming staff ran out of the view. Reborn heard Mei sigh and began muttering something incomprehensible._

"_Jiraiya." She said. "How many bottles did you manage to snag this time?" She asked noticing the flushed face of the white haired man along with a red hand print on his right cheek.._

"_Eh, oh Mei you look lovely as ever." Jiraiya replied as he trudged in the room ignoring the question. "Hm, who's the little guy?" he asked pointing at Reborn._

"_Someone's child, he's lost and we're still looking for the mother." Mei replied as she sat beside the toddler._

"_Excuse me, Miss Mei." Vespa said calling the attention of the manager, his fingers still lingers at his ear piece. "There's a riot down below."_

"_What did you do this time you pervert?" She snapped._

"_Erm..." Jiraiya trailed off scratching his cheek nervously. "I did some research?"_

"_Unbelievable!" Mei said, and stood up and walked towards the door nodding in thanks as Vespa opened it. "I'm telling this to her."_

"_What- wait Mei!" Jiraiya whined._

"_Keep an eye out for the kid while I clean up your mess, the sun should go out any minute and I rather have the child intact before her mother comes here." Mei ordered and pointed a look at the white haired man and glanced at the toddler._

"_Hm?" Jiraiya could only remark confusedly._

"_Vespa, you take guard and don't let Jiraiya show the kid his...research." She added._

"_Oi!" the white haired man retorted but was left unheard as the door closed with a snap. "Heh, so just you and me now eh, kid?" He asked as he glanced down at Reborn._

_Said toddler on the other hand spent the time planning, he's already inside the office and the only thing that was left in his to do list was to get the information. But he has two pairs of eye trained at him, doing the search inconspicuously was...no problem at all. If he's going undercover as a kid he might as well do it wholeheartedly._

_Without a prompt he jump down from the sofa and began to wander around, doing the curiosity business as a kid was more effort consuming, he thought as he spared every little attention he can give to the things in the room that might catch the eyes if he was really a toddler. Although he took some care after knowing that the Jiraiya person was following him a few feet behind._

_He was halfway through the room and was about to trudge his way towards the desk, making sure that his eyes is only directed at the shiny paperweight at the edge of the furniture, when he was suddenly lifted up by a pair of large hands. Reborn had enough sense to restrict his reactions, and rather than pulling out a gun and shooting the person, he just let out a surprised shout._

"_Whoa, there little man." Jiraiya said. "Where do you think you're going?" _

"_Shiny!~" Reborn answered as he pointed at the paperweight on top of the desk, he forced his eyes to tear up and prepared his limbs to throw a tantrum._

"_Huh, never pegged you for being that desperate, do you have a deadline or something?..." Jiraiya added, the toddler stilled when he felt the hand holding him began to get tighter. " Sun Arcobaleno, Reborn?" _

_With a blink of an eye the room erupted into chaos. Reborn had Leon transform into a gun and began to shoot the two occupants, who took cover behind furnitures. _

"_Why the heck did you bring him here?!" Reborn heard Jiraiya shout, he pinpointed his hiding place and manage to graze the man, eliciting an unmanly shriek._

_There was a short silence that the toddler kept interrupting by continuously shooting at the hidden men. _

"_Shit...She's going to kill me isn't she?" Jiraiaya again moaned loudly, Reborn again followed the direction of the voice and shot another bullet._

_He slowly began to step back until he reached the desk, jumping on top of the furniture and spared a glance at the paperwork while he trained an eye at the positions of the older men. Suddenly, a barrage of glinting weapons were thrown at his way forcing Reborn to evade by using the desk as a cover. It was either an unfortunate or fortunate thing to happen, but he used the small opening to open the drawers and began to flip through the pile of folders in each one.._

"_...Hey, I'm drunk!" Reborn heard the white haired man complain, curious, he took a peak and saw Vespa sighing agitatedly at their guest. Seeing that the two were distracted, he quickly reloaded his gun and shot at the white haired man, making sure to hit something vital._

_As a renowned hitman he was hailed to have a perfect shot, his victims cannot evade nor shield his bullets, he made no misses unless he intended, it came with all the restless practice and training he made himself do. But seeing the bullet that intended to be directly shot into the white haired man's lungs was evaded with no trouble, had set alarms ringing his head. _

_His instincts went haywire and without a pause he kicked the wooden chair which perfectly covered his figure and not a millisecond later he saw the furniture being embedded by...kunais? He did have anytime to ponder this sudden discovery as another barrage of sharp weaponry was thrown at him. He calculated the trajectory and found out that aside from the two occupants there is another two inside the room, hidden perhaps by an illusion. _

_Reborn flared his flames and his effort was rewarded when he saw blurred figures on each corner of the room, he shot two warning bullets and saw the hidden mafiosi evade. It gave him enough time to see his target folder, a short flips on the pages confirmed that it was indeed the folder he needed. He spied the wall length glass behind him, and saw that the hidden mafiosi tensed at his action._

"_Jiraiya-sama!" One of the hidden mafiosi shouted in alarm._

"_I know." Jiraiya huffed._

_Reborn was too busy calculating his escape route to see what is going at his peripheral. His instincts flared at him and he jumped to the right, just enough time to dodge another batch of those kunais. He retaliated with two shot from his gun and saw that it hit his mark, injuring one of the hidden mafiosi at the shoulder and leg. He followed another shot to ward away the other hidden mafiosi, Reborn quickly reloaded and began to shoot the window, he was expecting to see the window crack and maybe even break at the force of his bullets, however what he did not expect was to see his bullets being ricocheted by the window. There was not even a crack on the glass. He might have underestimated the defenses of this building, he took a closer look at the window and saw that it was as thick as a regular bullet proof window, nothing out of the ordinary except that his bullets would easily penetrate the thickness._

_So what is so different about the Casino's window?_

_He tested another round of his bullet after dodging another barrage of needle like weapons, the result was the same, no crack not even a bullet mark. On the positive note the ricochets gave him enough cover from any long range attacks, one lucky bullet even manage to hit the other hidden mafiosi at the thigh. _

_Vespa seems to have enough about throwing their sharp weaponry and decided to attack the toddler in melee combat. Both of his hands were clutching customized knives, and with precision that Reborn could only relate to Fong, began to attack relentlessly at the Arcobaleno. The toddler immediately transformed his partner into a sai and began to easily deflect the attacks, he quickly found out that he was in disadvantage when Jiraiya pulled out a gun and joined the fray, covering any openings that Reborn saw on Vespa's attack by deflect the toddler's sai with bullets._

"_Scarab!" Jiraiya called at one of the recently injured hidden mafiosi._

"_Thirty!" The man replied as he stopped the bleeding on his comrade's shoulder._

_Reborn perfectly read what is between the lines and spared a glance at the door. Backup will arrive any second now, then the front door of his escape route list. He jumped a few feet away one of the vicious swing from Vespa, putting distance between them, and wasted another couple of bullet at the window, it still ricochet off the glass. He clicked his tongue in irritation, as he was again distracted by Vespa when the glassed man attacked him again. He had no time to analyze this peculiar event as every opening he can find in the man's attacks were being deflected by shot thrown at him by Jiraiya._

_If calculations won't work, then perhaps brute force would break the damn window. He shifted into defense as he let Leon transform back into a gun, evading sharp blades and the occasional bullet in his direction was a piece of cake, but the pressure of knowing that the backup would be here any moment now is giving him a challenging time. So with little to no preparation he centered his flames into the bullet and jumped high into the air, a smirk eased it's way into his lips as he directed his gun at the window._

"_Burst Shot."_

_All of the occupants in the room watched mesmerized as the yellow streaked bullet began to multiply, in the air branching out by twos, and by the time it reached the window a hundred of yellow streak bullets came in contact with the glass shattering it upon impact. Debris rained below and the stormy winds began to create chaos as the papers and curtains danced at the gale. _

"_Ciao~" With a subtle tip of his head, Reborn jumped out of the window just in time to see the masked figures entering the room._

_=End=_

* * *

><p>Including his week long of making sure that the information in the folder he is accurate, Reborn had spent a month of time in just the first stage of this investigation. He was pretty sure that had put a smudge in his record, not to mention that had been found out during his infiltration another mark which he needs to some white lies to cover up.<p>

Despite the rather messed up outcome of his escape plan, he checked back at the hotel using his contacts and found out that no one had heard the chaos nor had been injured by the debris that was fallen during the confrontation. This gained more questions from his curious mind, bullet proof glass that he was not able to penetrate, masked figures as backups, no cover up needed for a high scale infiltration, talented illusionists, skilled grunts, kunais, and a perverted high ranking member. It seems that the Muliello Familgia are hiding much more than what he can see, being clouded in mystery and becoming into a contradicting puzzle that Reborn would eagerly unravel. However, he needs to be much more careful in this second infiltration, the main base should have been contacted of his arrival, they have an upper hand at the moment but he only saw the minor setback as a challenge to overcome.

Reborn banked to the left as he saw a small glinting lights at the edges of the ocean. The once calm water were now raging with whirlpools, the namesake of the Familgia was not too far off in their surroundings. The whirlpools continue to clash with one another, the force of each vortex was big enough to affect the winds that the toddler was riding forcing him to drift into higher altitudes and hid behind the drifting clouds. His high vantage view allowed him a much larger range and a mile away from him was sight that he would never forget.

It was island surrounded by high cliffs and peppered with tall trees that was so dense that the ground cannot be seen. At the center of the island was ethereal castle, much bigger than the Vongola Main Base and twice as large, the architecture was bizarre. The towers were lined with spiraling roofs and the large dome like structure at the center reminded him of the St. Peter's Basilica, with nearly a hundred of windows in the building and meters high door in every entrance, the sight would rather fit right into the list of the seven wonders.

Amazement aside, he began to circle around the island, noting every bit he can to make a mental map of the base. The guards were grouped into squads of four, and he estimated that the Mulinello Main base has over half a thousand of men inside the building, and adding the numerous mafioso they assigned in their businesses, the total amount of men of the familgia is reaching up into a thousand.

That estimation alone is rather frightening, considering that the Famiglia was just created more than a decade ago. That amount of loyal men gathered in just a short time very concerning, Reborn began to wonder why hide such strength if they can back it up? Another question to add up to the list of mysteries.

The Sun Arcobaleno, drifted at the edges of the cliffs and began his descent. Once he landed, he let Leon rest on his hat and stared at the trees in the area, the sight reminded him of the Brazilian jungles and consequently the animals that lives in those unpopulated area.

As if in cue, a loud roar echoed in the dark forest, forcing some lower animals to screech in fright as a reply. Reborn adjusted the small back pack on his back and smirked as he trudged into the woods.

'Let the games begin.'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Anyone who thought the chapter is a bit off please raise your hand...I feel it too -_- Anyway comments, reviews, complains...yada, yada, yada. Put it in the box below. ^_^ Oh and sorry for some grammatical errors, just tell where it is and I'll fix it right up!<br>**


	8. Troubles

**AN: I bet you got my schedule for updates right about now, hehe. Anyway look an update! it's a bit short than my regular ones but I am on a bit of tight sched right now. So enjoy~**

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**And a shout out to** ShinigamiinPeru** for reviewing!**

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* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Troubles<p>

"Strike! You're out Tsuna!" Takeshi laughed as hollered from the bench, watching his shorter friend trudge back to their place and saw the mild irritation the brunet held in his eyes.

The students did not tease or even insult Tsuna since in just the first half of the inning of the game, Naruto's team had nearly took up an hour of their subject as they manage to get home runs one after another. They only manage to get three strikes out due to Takeshi's help, even then the score were too far to reach.

"Maa, don't be down, Tsuna." Takeshi amended glancing back at the game and watched Naruto readied a stance for his pitching. "Naruto has a really good throwing arm, even I got a strike from him."

"Well at least you got a home run on your next bat." Tsuna huffed as he watched as the blond raised his hand in preparation for a throw, blue eyes gleaming in concentration, not a second later a white blur shot out directly and landed with a vicious thump on Haku's mitts. The batter did not even knew that the ball was coming and just stared at Naruto with a bewildered look.

"Strike!" The umpire and P.E. Teacher shouted.

"He's really good, I wonder if he can join the club..." Takeshi murmured excitedly.

The boys were having a game of baseball in the field while the girl were playing soft on the other side with a co-teacher watching them. Monday had already passed and the long test in their Mathematics went well, aside from the subtle insults Nezu gave the class. Tsuna was surprised that the questions came easy to him, even Takeshi had a grin splitting up his face as he easily breezed through each question. The group study with Naruto's brother really did them good, even better.

Kakashi is a heaven sent, the older teen's style of teaching was unique as he added Takeshi's love of baseball into the formulas and got the tall raven understand each problem with ease, it did not made sense to Tsuna when he over heard of how the x's became the velocity of the ball or how the customized bat weighed after it fall at the height of a building in a given speed. But after an hour of more one-on-one tutoring Takeshi had understood each impromptu problems that the masked teen made up, and was able to answer them with little difficulty.

When it was Tsuna's turn, for one-on-one tutorial after Haku made him solve some problems in the textbook, he was surprise that he was able to understand easily, whether it was because of Haku's patience or the step by step solutions given by Kakashi, Tsuna didn't care he was happy that he can understand the concept of each problem. Comparing it to the way that Nazu teach, Tsuna would prefer the silver haired teen at any given day.

"You're out!" Another shout was called and the batter returned to the bench in a dejected voice.

"Alright class, the winner for this inning is Team Fishcake!" The teacher called out, ignoring the undignified shout from the blond. "You can go back to the locker boys, we ran out of time. Team Smiles stay behind and clean up."

There was a chorus of loud grunts of complaints from the losing aside from Tsuna and Takeshi who made a bee line to the equipment closet, leaving the rest of their team grumbling in the benches.

"Oi! Tsuna, can you clea- ah never mind I'll help." One their team mates called out, but changed at the last second when he saw Takeshi's glare directed at him.

"Hm?" Tsuna was too slow preoccupied to see the silent conversation and was left confused when the boy who called out to him ran towards to field to collect the platforms. "What's that about?" He asked Takeshi who just gave a shrug.

"I'll help, dattebayo." Naruto announced as he ran towards them lugging three bats on his shoulder, Haku was a few feet behind retying his hair.

"Thanks." Takeshi replied. "Say Naruto, do you have any interest in joining the baseball club?"

"Ah, sorry." Naruto apologized rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "I already got some Karate classes in one of the dojo's."

The answer was a bit surprised, since they know how well the blond was in their P.E. He can run like an athlete hounded by dogs, dodge balls with ease and despite his height Naruto can jump high enough to spike a volleyball without a problem. And knowing that he had joined Karate even if his skills were more into sports was just another unpredictable choice from the blond.

"Oh, that's too bad." Takeshi frowned a bit in disappointment. "Maa, it's alright, how about you Haku?"

"Sorry, I joined the History club yesterday." Haku replied with an apologizing smile.

"Well, no use crying on spilled milk." Takeshi quoted.

"Naruto, you have Karate lessons?" Tsuna asked a bit interested, as far as he know there are no dojo's here in Namimori except from the private ones, most of them were closed and run down.

"Yep, there's one recently opened at the edges of the town. I go there on Saturdays and sometimes after classes if we have no study session, 'ttebayo." The blond explained as he closed the door of the equipment room. "Why, are you interested?"

Tsuna mused at the idea, since the school had started his training were limited to running and some evasions on those rare Saturdays. "Maybe, I'll ask Ryohei-san."

"Who's he?" Naruto asked curiously.

"He's my...well you could say trainer. He's the Captain of the Boxing club." Tsuna explained.

"You joined the boxing club?" The blond commented with a rise of an eyebrow.

"I'm an unofficial member." The brunet replied suddenly conscious at the surprised stare from his friends.

"Sasagawa-sempai? I never knew you're into fighting Tsuna." Takeshi joined the conversation.

"Self-defense, not fighting Takeshi." Tsuna defended, taking a bit offense.

"Ahaha, sorry." The tall raven apologized. "Although, why unofficial?" He never knew that the brunet joined a club, although he did saw him jogging the mornings.

"Because, he's Extremely not fit for boxing!" A very loud shout, called out surprising the group from the sudden volume.

"Ah, Ryohei-san!" Tsuna greeted as he saw the boxer in the locker room.

"Sasagawa-sempai." Takeshi greeted with a smile.

Naruto on the other hand refrained from flinching as he saw the Gai&Lee version blending through the image of the boxer, and consequently reminded him of the 'alarm clock' that he was subjected to every morning. He was just glad that the teen was not wearing anything odd other than the bandages wrapped around his arms and fists. Haku on the other hand just rose a questioning eyebrow.

"Ne, why is Tsuna unfit for boxing, dattebayo?" Naruto asked after he contained himself.

"My extreme fists says so!" Ryohei shouted again gaining sweat drops from the younger teens, he was about to say something but paused as he looked at the two unknown students before him, he was well acquainted with Takeshi since they met in the sports council. "Tsuna are they your friends?"

"Yep!" Naruto answered. "I'm Namikaze Naruto, dattebayo."

"Uchiha Haku." Haku introduced with a polite bow.

After the short introduction, the boxer stared at them with a intensity that was so opposite of his character. Suddenly the stare was gone and he was vigorously nodding in assent. "I extremely approve of your choice of extreme friends, Tsuna."

Said brunet did not know how to react to that but decided to agree with a nod.

"Ryohei-san." Tsuna called, now is a better time to ask his trainer of the dojo. "Naruto here has joined a Karate class..." He trailed off hoping that the boxer would join in his line of thought.

"Hmm...So you want to join him?" He asked suddenly put off at the idea that he would have no more training parter in the mornings.

"Eto...yes?" Tsuna answered in question.

"Then I extremely challenge _you_ in a match!" Ryohei shouted as he pointed a finger at the direction of the blond, who dumbly pointed at himself and mouthed 'me?'

"Me?" He repeated this time voicing out his incredulity. "Why, 'ttebayo."

"If you extremely lose then the Karate lessons in your class is not extremely acceptable!" Ryohei shouted.

"Why you." Naruto's temper quickly flared at the unconscious insult at Bee's teaching, the man may be odd but he's a clan head for a reason. "I'll accept, if you loose then I want you to spar with Bee! And then you'll apologize to him! Dattebayo." He challenged as he held out his hand.

The two fighters shook their hands, Tsuna saw that they are took long shaking hands and noticed at Naruto was squeezing too hard at the bandaged hand. Naruto relented after he saw the boxer flinched at his grip and smirked at the glare directed at him.

"See you after class." The blonde said and promptly walked out of the locker isle while waving a idle hand as he disappeared at the corner.

"Sasagawa-sempai is gonna get pranked, isn't he?" Takeshi whispered at Haku who only nodded with exasperation

* * *

><p>"What a douche." Naruto grumbled as he walked out of the principals's office along with his group. Haku nodded in agreement, as he spared another glance at Nezu who was sweating in front of the unamused principal.<p>

"Maa, sensei is just surprised." Takeshi appeased.

"But he doesn't have to accuse both of you cheating!" Naruto retorted heatedly. "Just because you two got above 80% in the test didn't mean you cheated."

Tsuna just remained silent as he remembered the recent class. Mathematics. It was...eventful in a sense. The result of their test was given today and right after the class started, Nezumi accused the two of them -he and Takeshi- of cheating after he revealed that they miraculously passed and well above the expectation of everyone in the classroom. There was a rather heated debate after Naruto denied the accusation reasoning loudly and minutes after it escalated to a shouting match between teacher and student. The ruckus goaded the attention of a passing disciplinary officer and ordered the teacher to direct the problem to the principal.

The math teacher eagerly agreed and ordered the two cheaters and blond to follow him, Haku joined the parade reasoning that he can back up Naruto's defense since he's also part of the group. Once they reached the office Nezu quickly shot off his accusation, never giving a space for the group of teens to say their part. It was only with the help of Haku who secretly made a call to their co-turor.

* * *

><p><em>ooOOFlashBackOOoo<em>

"_Tenjiro-san." Haku announced, disturbing the long winded complains of Nezu._

"_Boy, do not disturb me. I am still talking." Nazu sneered._

_Haku just ignored the reprimand and gave the phone to the principal after he got the old man's attention. "A call for you."_

_Somehow the principal pushed the button for loud speaker and the conversation was aired throughout the room._

'_What is it?'_

_A very familiar muffled voice snapped, it was deep and cold it was a far cry from the relaxed and lazy tone that both Takeshi and Tsuna knew, somehow those three words made the hair at the back of their head stand up. Even Nezu had shut up._

"_Shit, bad timing Haku." Naruto commented silently as he began to fidget in his place._

"_Kaka-nii." Naruto called out loudly so he can be heard in the device. "Sorry to disturb, but we ran into a bit of trouble. Tsuna and Takeshi was accused of cheating in the test yesterday."_

'_Who?'_

_Kakashi asked, the coldness in his voice lessened but it still held the attention of the listeners._

_Nezumi decided to join the conversation, whether in stupidity or in stupidity. Either way he was about to be chewed._

"_Namikaze-san." Calling the the 'Kaka-nii' with a wrong name. "I am Dohachiru Nezumi, the math teacher of your brother and consequently his group."_

'_Hatake, my last name is Hatake.'_

_The teen snapped in a offended tone, making Nezu shiver in fright at the scalding reprimand. "I a-apologize Hatake-san."_

'_Naruto where are you currently?'_

_The blonde snapped up in attention, an unconscious reaction since Kakashi was using 'that' tone. "Principal's office, Si- Kaka-nii." He nodded gratefully at Haku who elbowed him just in time to catch his slip up._

'_Ah, Tenjiro-san.' _

_Kakashi called out as if he was with them at the moment. _

'_On what basis does Dohachiru formed the accusation?'_

_Tenjiro gulped at the rather intimidating voice, he had a friend in the military and did not even bat an eyelash when he was using a commanding tone, but the man at the other of the phone made him feel like he was in inferior being at the moment so he obliged and dutifully answered. _

"_Nezumi-san, reported that the sudden increase in Sawada-san and Yamamoto-san's test score has surpassed his expectations. He compared them to their past scores and had concluded that these two children cheated."_

'_...'_

_Silence was not the the answer they were waiting for and the sudden awkwardness in the room made all the occupants uncomfortable. The elders in the room were left to contemplate at the sudden turn of events, they were both unknowingly imagining the appearance of the man and their mind ran rampant as images of big burly man with gangster like clothes entered their minds._

'_Tenjiro-san may I speak to you, privately? Just push the speaker button.'_

_The principal snapped out of his thoughts and fumbled for device until he manage to push the speaker button and held the phone to his ear._

_The silence continued for a while as the principal listened, the rest of the occupants watched in curiosity as the man nodded in understanding, glancing back at the math teacher and replying in agreement to whatever Kakashi was saying to him. Oddly Tenjiro announced his fax machine number and gave Nezumi a glare as he held the phone towards the math teacher._

_Nezumi held the phone anxiously and hesitated, his bravado was gone after he saw the disappointed look the principal gave him._

"_He's waiting Dohachiru." The sudden change in his name just added the apprehension to the teacher._

_Slowly, Nezu held the device near his ear and called out a weak. "Y-yes, Hatake-san?"_

_Whatever Kakashi said on the phone did wonders to the teacher's complexion as Nezumi paled and began to sweat heavily. The observers were curious as to what the context was, but they were enjoying the unannounced reprimand the man is hearing personally, as the reaction jumped from different levels of fear._

_The message was short but it seems to deliver what it was meant to be, a threat. Everyone knew and saw it in the very eyes of the Nezumi, but they did not comment, he deserve that little cautionary words. With shaking hands the math teacher held the phone back to it's owner and just remained silent._

"_All of you can go now, Hatake-san explained it to me quite clearly that you two did not cheat and I apologize for one of my staff's actions." Tenjiro announced, giving the students a reason to release relieved sighs. "Although, may I remind Namikaze-san to lower his volume when speaking to the teacher." Naruto sheepishly apologize. _

"_Thanks Tenjiro-jiji."_

_END_

* * *

><p>"I wonder what Kakashi-san said to Nezu." Tsuna mumbled.<p>

"Whatever it was, I don't want to know." Naruto replied, reminding himself that the two of them will have a word with the silver head teen for disturbing him in his 'job'.

The sun was already setting by the time they walked out of the building. It seems that Nezumi's monologue took more time than what they think. The group were about to walk out of the gate when Naruto suddenly froze mid step. The sudden pause went unnoticed to Tsuna and the brunet bumped into the blond's back.

"Naruto?" Tsuna asked rubbing his nose at the unexpected action.

"I think I forgot something, 'ttebayo..." Naruto murmured as he began to check his bag and found all his school and pranking materials well intact. Oddly the next thing that the blond did was rubbing his arms and patting his back pocket.

"Weird...Haku?" The blond asked knowing that their biological camera had recorded everything.

"The match with Ryohei-san..." Haku was not able to finish his sentence as the blond suddenly ran off back to the school building cursing all the while.

"Stupid...why...remind...me...idiot...furball..." Naruto's uneven shouts echoed through the hallways, it was another unpredictable character from him that made Tsuna and Takeshi look at the long raven haired teen in question.

"Well, should we follow him?" Haku asked, feigning obliviousness at the glances he was being shot at.

The other two just nodded and followed the dust trails that the blond left behind.

* * *

><p>He's late...very, very late! Three hours, three freaking hours of tardiness...<p>

'I should send a Hiraishin Mail to Tsukuru-san! I finally beat his record!' Naruto thought excitedly as he ran through the hallways, remembering the ANBU commander as well as Kakashi's uncle back in K'aosi. The man was also renowned for his tardiness, always coming up late in any kind of meetings he needs to attend, his longest record so far was only one and half hours.

'**Of all the things to think about you chose that?' **Kurama drawled at the back of his mind.

Naruto no longer blanked out when they chatted with one another since these past month had been scheduled with their mental training, usually smudged alongside with the subjects of the blond. The training was a bit simple yet hard at the same time, Kurama would randomly start a conversation with his holder and Naruto would try to split his focus, half is focused in the conversation and the other is focused on the lessons given by the teacher.

The training took up at least two weeks until Naruto was able to fully split his focus. Currently, they had added basic movements such as walking and running into the mayhem, and would move on to katas and then to an all out spar if Naruto will accomplish the feats. Kurama had assumed that it would take the blond a year to fully make their connection 'solid'.

'I can't help it!' Naruto thought with a grin as he adjusted his stepping after he focused too much on the conversation in his head.

'**...Anyway...I noticed that you were getting too attached to our target.' **The fox said. **'May I remind you that we are in a long term mission, not some vacation kit.'**

'I know...I know.' Naruto replied somewhat somberly. 'I hate lying and what we're doing right now is more than what my conscience can take, but this is a mission and we're ninjas...' The blonde trailed off as his thoughts wander. 'We killed his relatives Kurama, and lead his life straight into a world of nightmare...I won't be surprised to find him hating me when he knows the truth.'

'**...' **Kurama kept his silence feeling that Naruto was unfinished.

'All the time I thought that retrieving the Legacy, your flames, would come in easy..." The blond continued and gave a small chuckle. 'A naive thought I know...But deceit, murder, and possibly a war...'

'**You're not sure whether doing those things were worth for the Legacy, right?' **Kurama asked getting a surprised look from his holder. **'I asked your father with a similar question kit.'**

'You talked to dad?' Naruto asked bewildered. 'When?'

'**When you got back from your trip with Jiraiya...I wanted a closure with him about Kushina...' **The fox replied somberly.

'Oh...so that's what you talked about...'

'**I asked him if the lives I took were worthy enough to sacrifice for the sake of retrieving the Legacy...' **Kurama smiled bitterly as he remembered the answer of the Toubiyon Kage.** 'It's not worth it...was what he answered and I whole-fully agree, It was then that I came to accept that the Legacy passed down to us will be lost forever... Well that was until you took over Kushina's promise.'**

'Yeah...but did dad really said that?' Naruto asked a bit disgruntled at the information.

'**There's more of course.' **Kurama replied. **'He said I did the 'right thing' and I'll advise the same to you right now. There are many high stakes in this mission kit, every choice we make will lead in a better or worse future.'**

Naruto smiled at the small advice it wasn't much that can appease the worried thoughts he kept at the back of his head, but at least it can make him focus in the mission. 'Thanks, Kurama. Although I found the heir a bit weird...'

'**How so?' **Kurama's ears twitched somewhat curious, he had spent most of the time observing their small group and found nothing weird about the brunet.

'He has this aura of sorts...like-like a Kage. Somehow even at the first week of meeting I can't help but be pulled in his warmth?...erm-well you could compare it to moth and flames...' Naruto trailed off with a mental shrug.

Kurama did reply as Naruto saw the fox musing at his words, he left the ex-Kage in his thoughts as he arrived at the room of the boxing club. He was wondering if the gray haired captain was still inside, the school was nearly empty and he would not be surprise if his knock went unanswered. But even before he manage to raise his fist in preparation to knock he heard a tell tale sound fists punching in the air, he spread a small wave of his chakra and sure enough a feedback echoed in his senses.

The blond scratched the polite knock in his plans and just opened the door silently. His eyes were greeted by a fully outfitted boxer standing in the middle of the dimly lit ring, the older teen was shadow boxing. Naruto let out a whistle as he saw the jabs slice through the air with strength and precision almost comparable to the spars the chunins did back at home. His whistle took hold the attention of the boxer and Ryohei momentarily stopped his shadow boxing to look for it's owner.

"You're extremely late." The boxing captain said with a bit of ire in his voice.

"Maa, I got held back by a nuisance." Naruto answered as he walked towards the ring and placed his bag at the bottom.

The blond quickly undressed his yellow vest and his uniform only leaving his undershirt and pants on. He was not planning to fight with only his boxers on, really who in right mind would do that? He roughly folded his clothes and dropped it beside his bag, glancing around he found a pair of unused gloves on the bench a few feet away and grabbed them. Proper protocols for wearing them was ignored as he directly wore them.

Naruto tried clenching his fist and found the gloves a bit larger than his hands, well beggars can't be choosers, he swiftly wore the other pair and tightened the straps with his teeth. He would rather use the plain old bare fist fighting but this is a boxing match, he would at least follow some rules of the game.

He was halfway through climbing up the ring when he heard the foot prints of his friends not a minute over three figures walked inside the club room, he gave them a short wave a their direction and role an eyebrow at Haku who was reading a book about boxing rules. He turned his attention back to his soon-to-be-opponent after the long haired raven made a knowing eye contact with him.

"Well, what are the rules for this game?" He asked cockily as he rose an eyebrow, taunting tactics usually forge a line to a win in battles.

To Ryohei's credit he didn't even bat an eyelash at his words. "Open round, first one to fall three times loses, TKO included, no hitting below the belt, standard rules apply." He said jumping in his place to hype up his body.

"Crystal." Naruto smirked as he smashed both of his fists together. "I suggest Haku to referee us, he's the most neutral person I met."

Ryohei frowned but nodded as he looked at the long haired teen, who was now joining on the ring, his bag were left with Tsuna, Takeshi on the other hand was sitting on the judges table, a boxing bell in front of him.

Haku seems to be enjoying his role as he eagerly directed the two opponents at the center of the ring. He held out a hand between them and looked at each of the boys in the eyes. "Ready?" Two head nodded in agreement and with a swift chop in the air, followed by a thunderous ring of the bell the fight started.

Naruto dodged the incoming jabs as Ryohei attacked relentlessly. He was immediately in defensive as he raise both of his arms of what would be a direct hit. 'He's fast.' He silently commented and grinned when he felt the sting in the back of his arms. 'And strong too.'

The blond jumped and shifted away as he put some distance between them. He made enough sense of the boxer's tactics and his mind immediately supplied half assed plans that usually came out unpredictable. Kakashi's words not his.

He let Ryohei walked closer to him and immediately bent forward for a jab. The boxing captain fell for the feint and dodged to right, Naruto quickly spent a burst of speed and went directly to the right a vicious hook already swung directly at the older teen's head.

Whether it was by pure luck or instincts, Ryohei dodge the hook by craning his head out of the way, however he was not left unscathed as the punch hit his shoulder, unbalancing his body at the contradicting momentum. Naruto went in for a follow up and threw a combinations of jab on the boxer's torso.

Ryohei stumbled back and nearly fell down if not for the net catching him.

"Are you sure you're a captain?" Naruto taunted again and inwardly smirked when the boxer directed a glare at him.

The boxer let out a huff and stood up without a grunt, letting Naruto see that his hits were feeble at best. The blond only grinned as he went into offensive, using feints to distract Ryohei to dodge and always follow it up with a right hook and some jabs to make the boxer fall. However after the third feint, Ryohei already knew his tactic and easily dodged the oncoming hook and jabs that would soon follow.

Ryohei let out a grin and forced Naruto to let his opening left defenseless. The boxer swung his out left hook and hit Naruto directly in his sternum. Spit flew out of the blond's mouth, however his shocked expression turned into a manic grin as let his falling momentum to took hold of his body, a second later he stomped his foot on the ground and he swung an uppercut.

A tooth flew out of Ryohei's unguarded mouth, saliva flew along with blood however the bandaged teen caught his fall and stumbled backwards. Naruto grinned and smashed his fists together again, Ryohei copied his movements, both fighters were grinning as the fight continued on.

* * *

><p>Tsuna watched what he could only a slugfest as the two fighters, with unbridled attention. This was the first time he saw a boxing worthy of the television. But despite the bruises blooming all over the face and body of his friends, they saw that they were enjoying the match. Time flew by and Naruto took the first score as he punch Ryohei with a heavy hook directly at the boxer's temple.<p>

The boxer fell on his behind but not even at the count of three he was already standing and the slugfest continued without a comment. The next point went to Ryohei as he manage to his the blond with an uppercut. Naruto flew a few inches off the ring and dropped like a sack, he was far more eager to stand up as he quickly went back to fighting even before Haku called out a count.

The match continued until the sun finally sank in the horizon. Both fighters were still relentless in their attack, shifting in offense and defense in a well practiced pace as if both of them had this spar ages ago.

As the clock reached 6:30, neither of the two scored a point. Tsuna saw that the fatigue had reached the boxing captain as he heaved in heavy breaths, Naruto meanwhile seems to have a much longer stamina as he was still grinning as he dodged the incoming brunet looked at Takeshi and saw him shouting a few encouraging words on both of the fighters.

"No students are allowed in school after club hours."

A voice announced after the door of the club room opened with a loud thud. All occupants in the room froze at the thinly veiled threat at the owner of the voice. All head turned robotically turned towards the door and Tsuna found himself shiver at the incoming pain he will be feeling.

Because right before them stood Hibari Kyoya, all in his glory with a dash of glinting tonfas in hand.

"I'll bite you all to death."

* * *

><p>Reborn watched in the monitor in his makeshift hideout in one of the hollowed out trees in the forest of Mulinello's base. Three days had passed since he arrived in the island and he found himself running out of coffee beans for his espresso. The main reason for this was right before his eyes.<p>

He had manage to set up cameras near the clearing around the familgia's base just so he can observe their schedule and he realized that it was again repeat in the Casino. The schedule of their Mafiosi were unpredictable, they had a four man squad of guard shifting in every two hour and suddenly their shift would change to an hour and sometimes at a thirty minutes intervals. Aside from human guards there were also trained animals scouring the forest every nigh, forcing him to set up his hide out up above the tree tops.

He hadn't reached an opening to start from, leaving him to mull in his thoughts about the unanswered questions of the mystery called Mulinello.

Leon perked up from his perch on his hat and flicked his head towards the treetops. Reborn followed his gaze and sharpened his ears as he heard the rumbles of an airplane off in the distance. He peeked out of his hideout and saw that it was indeed a plane. Reborn held out his hand and Leon transformed into a green binoculars without an order.

He shifted his partner towards his eyes and noticed that the private plane was rather larger than the usual ones and had a much more customized design in it's outer interior. Aside from it's design Reborn's eyes were focused on the insignia right on the tail end of the plane. It was a red swirl, with nine tail like flares beneath it.

It was a far match than the single red swirl that he saw back in the casino but it was similar enough that Reborn did not react other than a small smirk on his lips.

The plane circled around the island twice until it reached the cliff ends, Reborn was not sure how a plane of that size would land in that small clearing, there were no landing pads in the vicinity. He watched the plane closely as it reached a kilometer away from the island. Reborn calculated it's trajectory and found that the plane was too low and would be crashing into the cliffs if it will continue in it's path. He was surprise to see that the plane was still flying without a stop.

Reborn jumped out of his hideout and used the tree tops to reach the far ends of the cliff, he hid behind a rather the leaves of the trees. He was few feet away from where the plane would 'land' and saw it slowly reach the cliffs, half a mile away, Reborn sure that the pilot was planning a suicide along with his passengers.

A quarter mile away, Reborn felt the ground shifting beneath the tree. He looked into his binoculars again and rather than pointing it towards the plane he directed it towards the cliff beneath him. His vantage view lack the full length of what was happening beneath the edge of the cliffs but it was enough to make him catch a glimpse of a cave or better yet a mechanize entrance hidden in the plain sight.

Ingenious.

Reborn watched as the plane reached the opening and swiftly disappeared inside, not a moment longer the mechanize door closed without a sound and the camouflage did it's work. No one would even know that there was a hidden underground 'parking lot' beneath the mansion.

Another mystery to add in his list, his brain is getting worked up at the long list but he did found something.

An opening.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I bit short don't you think? Anyway I saw a lot of errors in my grammar so don't be surprise if the future chapter comes in late, I'm gonna edit them ^ ^ So reviews, comments, and suggestions...please just drop it in the box below.<strong>


	9. Bruises and Pains

**AN: Yes, it's a late update. Yes, I did not made any time to edit my past chapters. Yes, I already posted the background of the OCs in my profile and No, no... I haven't watch the NTLM yet. The freaking snapshot are worth killing for! Why aren't the cinemas in my place have it? why? WHY? I take back what I thought about Naruto's stupid hair cut... T_T **

**To all the readers who viewed and tagged this story in their favorite and follow list, you guys rock!**

**And shout out to reviewers! **Mizuhara Setsuna-chan, ShinigamiinPeru, Akayuki Novak, Tsunaswordrainguardian1 -that's a mouthful ^^-. **Love ya'll to bits.**

**PS: I pulled out some names from other animes to add in this story, -just minor characters- so guess who and what. ^_^ a cookie for those who guessed right.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and or KHR.**

* * *

><p>Chapter9: Bruises and Pains<p>

Reborn stared mournfully at the cup of espresso before him. He released a very unnoticeable sigh and lift the cup. It has been a few hours since the discovery of the secret entrance in the cliff and he had been planning all the possible way how he can enter the base without setting up an alarm. He considered every angles and found out that despite the small or rather wide opening beneath he would be, in a sense, lost inside the uncharted mansion. Not a good start for an infiltration.

There were no blueprints nor a report that the mansion had been created in the past, the Mulinello base just literally appeared out of nowhere. He checked any large building companies in Europe and Asia both Public and Underground for any buyers who bought large quantities of materials. Oddly there were none as most buyers were from known familgias and recent corporations. So how did the Mulinello built that?

Another mystery to add in the long list.

He sipped leisurely as he contemplated his situation and gave another mournful glance at his cup, this is his last espresso for duration of his assignment another day and he'll have those annoying caffeine cravings again...how troublesome. Reborn was in a slump, the only opening he can think of was another plane landing, he could hitch a ride in that...and then what? He was pretty sure that security in the underground parking lot will be more tight that above ground.

Reborn's musing were cut short as he felt the ground shake again, it was very different from what he recently experience and Leon did not warn him of any plane arrivals. An earthquake?

Meanwhile...

"You stupid! Perverted! IDIOT!"

"C-Calm down H-hime!"

"How could I calm down when you're the reason that the Arcobaleno found this place!?" Tsunade retorted angrily as she threw a punch that Jiraiya barely dodge.

A loud booming sound echoed throughout the mansion and the ground shook from the level of force as the clenched fist of the Second Boss of Mulinello embedded deep in the broken tiles.

"W-well...If you look on the positive side the Familgia can now come out of the 'open'...you did plan that in the past right?" Jiraiya squeaked replied as he hid behind the only unbroken furniture in the room, a chair. He was nursing a blooming bruise on his face, wincing as the pain became unbearable.

"Boss! Please stop destroying things!" Shizune called out behind the entrance door along with the ANBUs stationed on that area.

Tsunade forced herself to calm down, the thought of the incoming arrivals of another batch of paperwork had worked its horrors on her mind. She released a heavy sigh and rubbed her aching temples, a useless act since the source of her head ache was right before her.

"I thought that sending you to the Casino would be a help..." The blonde muttered and resigned to glaring at the white haired man.

"I'm sorry?"

"Apologizing won't cover that mistake, you idiot." Tsunade snapped. "I did plan for the Familgia to some out of the 'open' but not this way."

"Being a troublesome idiot as always eh, Jiraiya?" A deep slithery voice commented as it's owner leisure entered the war torn room.

The man was of average height, wearing a deep purple button up shirt, a pair of pants matched with dress shoes and a lab coat over the attire. He had a long hair nearly reaching the middle of his back and his skin was pale as a white sheet. The most noticeably part of the man was his yellow nearly snake like eyes.

"Orochimaru." Jiraiya greeted heatedly at his rival and friend not bothering to retort at the insult since currently he was one right now.

"Orochimaru, what brings you here?" Tsunade asked crossing her hands and rose questioning eyebrow at their resident scientist.

"I was curious." The man replied waving his hand in an offhanded motion.

"Seriously what is it?" Tsunade snapped, fully knowing that the man wont leave his lab unless something caught his eye.

"One of my snakes found someone snooping around the base." Orochimaru answered. "A baby to be precise, and there were also cameras stationed in the trees."

The new arrival quickly jumped out of the way as a punch flew by where he was standing not seconds ago. Another loud booming sound echoed followed by the large cracks of the tiles as a crater formed at it's center.

"Oi what gives?"

"Why are you telling me this right now!?" Tsunade thundered, the thoughts of paperwork long gone from her mind.

Orochimaru did not reply, knowing that if a single syllable left his mouth he would be the next victim and he would rather not have that happen.

Tsunade let out another sigh. "Cat." She called out.

A flourish of smoke puffed out beside her revealing a Toubiyon clad ANBU kneeling obediently.

"Confirm Orochimaru's recent reports. Send out any available summons and relay the order that all ANBUs must wear the Mafia dress code, tighten the security and... give me a bottle of sake."

"Yes ma'am."

"Well...it seems the game has began without us knowing."

"Don't go sagely on me you idiot! This problem is all your fault!"

* * *

><p>"I said we won't do it again, dattebayo!" Naruto shouted as he dodged another slash of tonfa. He glanced back Ryohei who was TKOed by a nasty uppercut from the Head of the DC, Hibari Kyoya.<p>

"Students who broke the rules will be bitten to death."

That was the only warning the blond got, before he dodge yet another slash from the blunt weapon. Blue eyes glanced around the ring and saw Tsuna and Takeshi hesitating in joining the fray, a very wise act right now since they wont last even a second in the fight. Haku on the other hand...

"Haku! A little help here?" Naruto pleaded, but paused at the last second when he saw that the said teen was just watching from the sidelines a small tub of popcorn in his hands. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Eating." Came the obvious reply as the long haired teen watch obliviously at the fight before him. "Two O'clock, low kick."

The blond unconsciously followed the direction and found him self dodging the predicted attack.

"Whoa! Can't we talk this out? 'ttebayo?" Naruto tried again and the only response he got was another vicious swipe.

"Well." The blonde commented as he ducked from the attack and crouched low on the ring. "If you want to fight then I'll give it you."

With that said, Naruto pounced from his crouch and prepared a high kick, metal hit his shin and Naruto winced at the impact he twisted mid air and delivered a round house directly at the head of his opponent and found him dodging at hair's breath. The blond did not stop his attacks and quickly engaged the tonfa wielding disciplinarian in close combat, pushing the older teen into defensive as he continued to punching the unguarded openings he had.

He heard of the infamous reputation that Hibari has in this town and was not disappointed as the openings he attacked through were guarded immediately, his counters were immediate and precise. The raven's taijutsu skills were commendable and Naruto would rank it with high chuunin to low jounin if he was in a different situation. Despite the disciplinarian's skills, Naruto found out that he had been lacking on some aspects, Hibari's balance were off and his foot work needs a bit more practice.

Blue eyes widened at a small fraction as he noticed another opening, without a pause he flexed his arm back and punched directly at the torso, putting more force that he intended, resulting for the DC Head to slide back and land on one of the supports at the corner.

Naruto watched as the raven wiped a dribble of blood from the corner of his lips, a blood thirsty look settled on his silver eyes.

"Wao."

Naruto shrugged off the complement and instead tensed as the raven unpinned his jacket and shifted into a stance. Somehow Naruto got the distinct feeling that he'll come home well past after his curfew.

* * *

><p>"Okay...What the heck happened to all of you?" Kakashi asked as he resignedly sat on the couch as he stared at the five students before him, two were residents of the unit while the rest were guests, he had an inkling that the other three would stay the night in the unit.<p>

Tsuna and Takeshi stared at the floor in silence finding the lush carpet beneath their socks more interesting than looking at the intimidating look from their one-time tutor. Their third guest meanwhile, a half dressed teen wearing a boxing outfit, was still unconscious lying on one of the larger couches awkwardly. The former two were littered with bruises and their clothes were ripped in different places, comparing it to his surrogate brother on the other hand...

Naruto's clothes had seen much better days as blond held a black eye and pair of concussion near his hair line. There were also scratches littering the blond's arms and saw that he was also leaning on his right leg.

Meanwhile Haku has the least damage, his clothes looked pristine as ever but his hair seems to have been dunked in a mini hurricane. Kakashi watched idly at the undercovered Yuki untangling his long locks as he waited for an answer.

"We- ehehe, got into a fight? Err- no, not the right word..." Naruto answered as he massaged his shoulder, where he knew a bruise is forming right now.

"Disciplined?" Tsuna meekly supplied.

"More or less, yeah." Naruto agreed as he redirected his hand on the bump on his head.

Kakashi sighed exasperatedly as he combed through his hair. "And what of him?" He asked pointedly looking at the third guest who was now drooling at one of the couch pillows.

"Ah, He's Sasagawa Ryohei, boxing captain and Tsuna's trainer, Dattebayo." Naruto introduced.

"I won't ask anymore what happened other than that." Kakashi said as he draw out his orange booklet from his pocket and began to flip it. "But I take it you three will stay for the night?"

Four heads nodded eagerly at the dodged bullet. "All right, I suggest you should call your parents, I don't want the police barging in the morning." He added as he made a shooing motion.

The four teens were halfway through the hallway, with Takeshi dragging the unconscious boxer, when Kakashi called out Naruto. The blond waved off his friends to let them wash up for the night as he stayed back in the living room.

"Report, starting from the call you made at 2:38." Kakashi ordered, his tone lost the lazy accent and had an edge in it.

Naruto complied, despite the lazy outward appearance of Kakashi he knew that he was talking before their leader, he began to relate the events from their 'discussion' in the principal's office up until his match with Ryohei.

"...Halfway through the match, Hibari Kyoya arrived and engaged Sasagawa, knocking him out immediately. He turned his attention towards me and proceeded his attack, I held back in defense and talked to him." Naruto paused as he saw Kakashi raised his hand as a sign to stop.

"And I take it he didn't listen?" Kakashi inquired.

"Yes."

"What rank?"

"Tokubetsu Jounin." Naruto replied, remembering the abrupt change in the skill of the Head of DC after he made that hit, he scratched out his first assessment when he found himself taking more damage than necessary. Sometime after their second bout, Takeshi and Tsuna joined the fray ignoring his warnings, and the two were immediately knocked out.

He did plan to add chakra to the mix after Hibari dispatched his friends easily but Haku joined the fight and they were able to overwhelm the head of the DC enough to knock out the raven for a few seconds, -done by yours truly with a head butt-. Naruto and Haku took the opportunity to high tail out of the club room, dragging their bags, two half conscious teens and a knocked out boxer. They made it well into the business district without any chase from the DC head when Takeshi and Tsuna realized that they can't go home looking like that.

It was then that the unplanned sleep over came to be.

Kakashi mused over the worded report and gave a short nod as he had agreed to something he discussed with his 'partner'. "Dismissed. Now sit."

Naruto obeyed and only rose and eyebrow as the masked teen held out a hand.

"Your foot."

"Ah." Naruto sheepishly complied as he rose his sprained foot, biting back a wince as his older brother held it.

Kakashi tenderly pulled the sock out of the foot and saw the small reddish lump near the ankle of the blond. He began to prod it with a finger and kept at it repeatedly as he saw Naruto wincing at his action.

"Oi, stop it Kaka-nii, that hurts! Dattebayo." Naruto complain as he shifted his foot back but the silver haired teen gripped his leg tightly.

"I know. I'm paying back what headache I'm experiencing right now because of your actions." Kakashi replied with vindictive mirth in his eyes as he continued prodding the swollen ankle with a bit force.

"Hey- ow! Okay, Okay. I'm sorry." Naruto breathed out a relieved sigh as his brother let go of his foot. "Sheesh."

"Now go take a bath, you stink." Kakashi commented as he scrunched up his masked nose in a show of disgust.

Naruto poked out his tongue as a reply and was about to stand up when a very shrill shriek echoed throughout the unit.

Footsteps echoed as all of the males in the shared unit ran towards its source. It was the unconscious automatic response that all males have when they heard a call of distress, a damsel in distress.

* * *

><p>Tsuna stared dumbly with flushed cheeks at the sight before him. He was pretty sure that majority of the people around him has the same expression. I mean who wouldn't? When a pretty, albeit blind girl, was standing clad in silky night dress right before them?<p>

Although the blush worthy image promptly shattered when he saw the girl wielding the ceramic toilet cover, shrieking like a banshee and plummeting the recently mentioned toilet cover on top of yet again unconscious boxer. If the situation was not that incredulous, his mind would have supplied that the said 'blind' girl always hit Ryohei's head with exact precision.

"Hinata-san...Hinata-san." A pale red head called out as he slowly approached the half hysteric girl. "Please calm down..." The monotonic voice seems to have an effect at the blind girl as Hinata lowered the ceramic cover, her breaths came out long and shaky as if she ran a marathon. "Can you tell me what happened?" Gaara asked as he held the hand of the girl as he guided her out of the bathroom.

"Ah...I-I we-went to the bathroom and th-the door suddenly opened...and-and I guess, I freaked out?" The only girl in the unit related with a darkening blush on her cheeks.

"Oi...Hinata-chan you did a lot of damage to our senior..." Naruto spoke out as he crouched before the unconscious teen and prodded the unresponsive boxer at the shoulder. "...That's the second time he got knocked out this evening, 'ttebayo."

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Hinata apologized and deliberately bowed at the wrong direction, eliciting some few chuckled from the men in the unit.

"Maa, maa. Nothing harmful was done...It was just an accident." Kakashi amended as he eye-smiled at the gathered crowd. Itachi let out a soft 'hn' and turned back to his room probably getting back to his work, Hinata soon followed as she gave a short greeting at the their guest while being lead to her room by Gaara.

"Well, if no one is using this bathroom I might as well use this, 'ttebayo." Naruto announced with a grin as he swiftly shut the empty bathroom. Leaving two awkwardly teens clad in only bathrobes and one unconscious boxer on the floor.

"Haku, can you lend Tsunayoshi-san some of Naruto's clothes?" The silver haired teen asked and the long haired raven followed."And Takeshi-san please follow me, I think my clothes are the only one that can fit with your body structure..."

"What about Sasagawa-sempai?" Takeshi inquired as he glanced back at the now bruised faced boxer lying on the floor.

"Ah, right." Kakashi commented as if he just forgot an ingredient in the checklist, he turned back and lugged Ryohei by the flank, he silently signaled the tall teen to help him and the two half dragged the unconscious teen at the other end of the hallway.

Tsuna watched the sight with amusement, until he was nudge by Haku and the brunet was lead to one of the most damaged doors he had seen on their last visit. Small holes riddled the wooden structure and Tsuna wonder what happened that it came out that way.

He silently watched Haku raise a hand but suddenly stopped a few inches away from the door knob, contemplating his actions with a small frown.

"Hm?"

The long haired teen shook his head and opened the door knob, revealing Naruto's room for the first time.

Tsuna found the amount of orange in the room disturbing, from the pillows, the bed and even the curtains were colored in a burnt orange, it nearly blinded him if he looked at the color intensely. The sight had tone down his love for the color but aside from the rather blinding interior, Naruto's room was as normal as it can get. A desk at the side, rather large collection of books beside it and a walk-in closet at the opposite.

Haku entered and Tsuna followed his classmate inside, he obediently sat on the soft fluffy cushions of the bed as Haku gestured him to take a seat while the teen began to rummage in the closet. The brunet's eyes wandered at the interior and found some trinkets on the desk, small figurines of frogs and foxes littered on the furniture tops and he even saw a rather unique doodle pinned on the wall. There was a bunch of old journals as well as some... scrolls?

Tsuna stopped his line of thought, before his curiosity got the better of him. Privacy first, questions later, he reminded himself. He continued to look around and saw picture frames displayed on the small bookshelf beside the bed, intrigued. The brunet stood up from the bed and looked closer at the people in the picture.

There were three frames in total. One contained Naruto with an older man on his left who looked like the blonde's father if the hair and eyes indicates as much, on Naruto's right was a very tall white haired man with two red lines that streaked below his eyes. The second photo was a family or more like extended family photo. There was a large crowd of red heads and blondes of different shades gathered around Naruto, he had a hard time taking note of each of their appearance but Tsuna recognized the blond man from the first photo, all of them were smiling and waving, some were even pushing one another jokingly. Tsuna was surprised at the revelation, he had thought of Naruto having a small family but it seems he was wrong on that assumption. The last photo has only one person in it, a female to precise, with long flowing red hair pinned at one side and wearing a simple red dress. There was small bulge on her middle letting him know that the female is pregnant, but what caught Tsuna's eyes was the female's face, the lips, nose and eyebrows eerily looked like Naruto, even the happy expression on the woman's face was an exact replica of his classmate.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" A voice called out snapping Tsuna from his observation. The brunet quickly turned around and found Naruto leaning on the doorway, only clad in a pair of frog printed pajamas. Tsuna winced as he saw the bruises littered on the blond's torso, there was an ice pack on in one of Naruto's hand, a small relief for his black eye and concussions.

Haku was no where in sight but the neatly folded clothes at edge of the bed made him realize that the long haired raven must have finish his chore and went out of the room.

"Ah, sorry." Tsuna apologized sheepishly.

The blonde waved it off and walked right beside Tsuna and stared at the picture of the female red head in longing. "She's my mom, she died during my birth..."

That one sentence made Tsuna have an epiphany about his mother...and father. He had somehow found an appreciation towards them, the loving and patient care of Nana and his father's...financial support. God knows what would happen to him if his mother was not there and with a father like Iemitsu...

Tsuna shook the darkening thoughts out of his head and looked at Naruto who had a blanked out expression on his face.

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Maa, I accepted it a long time ago, dattebayo." Naruto replied with a small shrug. "Although, dad and I had some troubles in the past but we're good now."

"How so?" Tsuna asked before he realized that he spoke it out loud.

"Just some...misunderstandings." Naruto replied as he ruffled his blond locks. "We didn't see eye to eye for the first few years. I was mostly raised by my godfather, Jiraiya." He added with a grin and pointed at the white haired man on the first photo. "And my relatives and family helped, too."

Tsuna's thoughts wandered back to his father at the mention of the parental figure, his conflicted emotions might have showed in his face when Naruto suddenly asked.

"Tsuna, you okay?"

"Ah, sorry. Your family reminded me of mine... in a way I guess." Tsuna replied looking away at the concerned eyes of the blond, he was a bit uncomfortable at the sudden change in his friend's character.

"Hmm, so...what does it feel like to have a mother?" Naruto asked rather wistfully.

"I don't know about others, but mom...mom is- she's the reason why I changed..." Tsuna started and found it enlightening to speak his heart out, some part of him want to share even a midget of his experience to a motherless friend. "She was there when I'm still a no-good child, she was there when I'm beaten and pushed down, she helped me stand up and become like this, she is always there behind me, pushing me to change for the better...I'm just glad that I realized this sooner."

"You're one lucky guy, Tsuna." Naruto commented as he patted the brunet's back. "I just wished dad had enough time for me like your mom does...Dattebayo."

Tsuna can't help his curiosity as he rose an eyebrow in question.

"Maa, nothing too serious, dad just have a very attention grabbing job." Naruto answered with a shrug. "We didn't have enough time to bond, that's why Jiraiya took it himself to raise me up."

"We're similar I guess..." Tsuna replied, admitting to himself that he was bit jealous that Naruto have a father figure to guide him. He let out a depreciating smile at their situation. "My dad rarely comes home too, I guess he's too busy in his construction work in south pole."

The brunet gave a short laugh as he saw the ridiculous expression on the blond's face. Really, that lie was too shallow to be accepted as one.

"Maa." Tsuna began, copying Takeshi's verbal tick. "An obvious lie, I suppose. But I guess he has his reasons..." Unreasonable ones, Tsuna thought with a mild grudge at his father's ignorance.

"He'll come around in time." Naruto consoled with another pat.

There were silence as the two teens were submerge in their thoughts, it was minutes after that Tsuna decided to break it.

"She beautiful..." Tsuna agreed, referring to the question the blond had asked before.

"Heh, short tempered and fiery too, 'ttebayo. My relatives back home use to say that I got more of mom's genes than my dad." Naruto replied as he placed the ice pack on one of the bumps in his head.

Tsuna grinned at that.

"Well I should go and change right now. Thanks for the clothes...and thank you for listening." The brunet said as he gathered the folded clothes and slowly walked out the room.

"Yeah...Oh, almost forgot." Naruto called out making Tsuna pause and turn around. "We ordered some Ramen. It should be delivered any minute now."

Tsuna gratefully nodded as he patted down the soft grumbles of his stomach, thankful that he can eat some food. He silently closed the door and walked towards the restroom at the end of the hallway and politely knocked, he wouldn't want a repeat of what happened earlier.

No answer.

Tsuna quickly entered and changed, glad to find out that the clothes fit him. After changing he made a beeline to the guestroom and was greeted by a half awake Ryohei, who was nursing the bruises on his face with an ice pack with one hand and a phone on the other. He was wearing a pair of black cotton pants and plain white shirt that was little too long on his figure.

Takeshi on the other hand was lying on top of the bunk bed, reading a baseball magazine. He was wearing a similar cotton pants and a black muscle shirt, which were a size too big.

"Ramen for dinner." Tsuna announced as he walked towards his bag and plucked out his phone. There was message from his mother, containing a small reprimand and a take care note at the bottom. The brunet typed his reply and quickly sent it.

"Cool, I'm hungry." Takeshi commented.

"Tsuna, you can extremely join your friend's classes." Ryohei loudly proclaimed from his position on the comforter.

The brunet blinked as his slowly processed what the boxer was talking about, until he realize what is it about. "Really? You-you don't mind?"

"Yes, to the extreme" Ryohei cheered.

* * *

><p>Dinner that night was a competition on who can eat the most ramen, of course the obvious winner was Naruto who ate five bowls while the rest were already contented with just two. The morning after was just as eventful as the night before, what wouldn't be? When your alarm clock was the swears of your blond classmate along with various rhythms of knockingbanging of fists, to put it simply it was total chaos. Tsuna found out that this was their hosts' daily routine and his respect for the college students rose if they were the ones always tasked waking up their sloth of a classmate.

Breakfast, however, was subdued when all males under the piercing gaze of their blind female host, none of them had the gall to ruin the food with their bickering, especially when Hinata snapped at Ryohei and Naruto who were arguing at their lost or earned dignity in yesterday's fight. Suffice to say, the three guests had enough time to go to their home, change and arrive in school with ten minutes to spare.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Naruto greeted the brunet as the brunet slid the door open. "I called Bee-san, he said you can go to his Dojo this Saturday, tell grass head too." He supplied with an insult to the boxer.

"Sure." Tsuna grinned, he is excited for the weekend to arrive.

.

.

.

Saturday came too soon for his liking, the week passed by in a blur watching Naruto and Haku play cat and mouse with the DC head, surviving the pop quizzes and doing his part time job in the evening, many things happened too fast and Tsuna found himself staring at the rather well polished entrance of the Hachiken Dojo. The brunet was rather confused whether the 'hachi' part refers to the number or the name of the instructor, either way the name was...unique. The dojo's design was traditional and simplistic, nothing too eye catching at first glance but there were some mentionable out of place objects, like the bull and octopus figurines made of stone perched at each sight of the gate.

Tsuna idly glanced at the wooden sign with 'closed' etched at the center and looked at his watch. They agreed to meet at eight o'clock and he was surprise to see that he's thirty minutes too early. With nothing to do, the brunet pulled out his earphones, plug it into his device and listened to his music.

Twenty minutes later, Tsuna saw a small figure at the meadow, based on the height alone the brunet assumed that it was a child. He watched the small figure ran at speed worthy of an athlete and in no time neared Tsuna's place.

The figure was a few meters away when the brunet finally saw some recognizable features of the arrival. It was a boy, about 8-10 years old, he was wearing a simple yellow shirt and pair of khaki pants, a green goggles is placed on his head which added to the spikiness of his brown hair, the boy was also wearing a rather long blue scarf that trailed behind him like a flaring tail.

The boy stopped just feet before him and watched Tsuna with curiosity.

"Eh, new student?" The boy asked with broken Japanese, there was a slight accent to his voice that hinted Tsuna that the kid was not raised from his homeland.

"Yes?" Tsuna answered or more like asked.

"Ah, good, please stay awhile." The boy said with a grin as he walked past the brunet and pulled off the sign at the entrance, he placed a hand on the door and began to rummage into one of his pockets and pulled out a rather old style key.

Moments later the gate opened, revealing a well maintained garden at the front with, a koi pond on the left and wooden training dummies on the right. There were also trees scattered around the place giving a more refreshing breezes of the wind.

"Inside!" The boy gestured with a wave and Tsuna immediately obliged with a smile and found it awkward to see a ten year old being a host.

He watched the boy enter the dojo and brought a small cushion and placed it near the entrance.

"Seat." The boy said as he pushed Tsuna towards the cushion and the brunet smiled at the rather harried expression of the boy.

"Tea?"

Tsuna nodded but grabbed the boy's scarf gently before he ran again, he pointed at himself and said. "Tsuna."

The boy's eyes widened, he pointed himself with a grin showing a chip in his tooth and introduced himself. "Konohamaru." Suddenly he glanced at the gate and the brunet followed the boy's gaze and saw Takeshi and Ryohei waiting at the entrance. "Friends?"

"Yes." Tsuna said with a nod and Konohamaru proceeded to wave at the newcomers to come inside and went back in the dojo to bring out another two cushions, he pointed at himself again and said his name.

"Takeshi." The baseball player introduced with a friendly smile.

"My name is Ryohei to the extreme!" The boxer announced and it seems the boy was lost as he directed a questioning gaze at Tsuna.

"Ryohei." The brunet repeated and got a nod from the boy.

"Sensei come any minute, please wait." Konohamaru said. "Tea?" He asked again and the nodded.

"Who's the kid?" Takeshi asked after the boy disappeared into the dojo.

"Student I guess." Tsuna answered with a shurg since he doesn't exactly know what the boy's relation with the instructor.

"This place is extreme!" Ryohei shouted as he ran towards the training dummies and began to shadow box in front of it

"Yeah." Takeshi agreed as he wandered to the koi pond and watched the fish swim.

Out of nowhere there was a loud guttery sound of a motorcycle and Tsuna watched in alarm as a chopper drove through the gate and went directly right into Tsuna's direction. Said brunet shrieked and stood up from his seat in fright just in time for the vehicle to stop before him with a heart stopping drift. The dust flew in the air covering Tsuna;s sight of the rider.

"Yo! You must be Tsuna! Naruto told me about ya!" The owner of the voice greeted.

Tsuna clenched a fist at his raging heart as he finally saw the owner of the voice. The man fit right into the 'biker' category just with the muscular figure and attire alone. Wearing a black leather jacket over a black tank top, a pair of leather pants accompanied by boots. His eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses and his white hair was styled in a short cropped dread locks, the man also sports goatee and a tattoo on his left cheek.

The brunet just realized that his soon to be instructor was a biker and one that rhymes too.

"Ah, Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna introduced with a bow, his voice just a pitch higher.

"Name's Kira Bee, I'm the instructor here, wee!" Bee introduced with rapping gestures of his hand, prompting the brunet to since at the volume.

"Tsuna! All you alright?" Takeshi asked as he ran towards the two, Ryohei was already halfway from the training dummies.

"Y-yeah." Tsuna answered with a shaky smile.

"You brought friends? Yosh! With these I can set up a trend!" Bee said as he whipped out a set of biker jackets out of nowhere and presented it to the three who just shared a confused glance at one another.

"Sensei! _What did I told you about those!?_" The familiar high pitch of Konohamaru shouted as he ran out of the dojo carrying a tray with three cups of tea. His reprimand turned back to his original language, adding more confusion as the three teens did not recognize what language the ten year old is shouting.

"To not to... but Naruto wears it too!" The man retorted as he pointed at the entrance, Tsuna and company turned their head at the gate and saw Naruto wearing a biker's jacket over his casual attire,a sling bag was slung across his chest.

Tsuna saw the dumbfounded look on the blond's face as he pointed at himself and mouth a 'me?'.

"_That's because it's Naruto-nii!_" Konohamaru retorted again in his own language driving the attention away from the blond and back to himself.

"Yo, what happening here?" Naruto asked as he jogged towards the group, his blue eyes landed on the set of jacket in Bee's hand. "Ah, nevermind. Konahamaru stop speaking Italian you're confusing my friends and you three." The blond said directing his gaze at his friends as he ruffled the spiked locks of the boy. "Just get the jackets, Bee won't stop badgering you until to wear it, dattebayo."

With a three unified shrug the teens grabbed the jackets.

"Now with that done, lets start the day son!" Bee said and entered the dojo, leaving his bike back in front of the entrance.

"Maa, Naruto." Takeshi called out. "Sempai and I are just going to watch."

"It won't change a thing, Bee-san had a one track mind when it comes to his trends, 'ttebayo." Naruto replied with an offhanded wave as he helped Konohamaru stack the cushions.

"This is an extremely authentic leather, whiskers." Ryohei commented as he looked at his jacket with an intense gaze.

"You should try it, grass head." Naruto said.

"Cool it fits." Takeshi said, already wearing the jacket and checking out the pockets.

"Mine too." Tsuna added as he thanked Konahamaru who offered his tea.

"Extreme." Ryohei complemented as he striked a pose with his jacket.

Konohamaru laughed at the prompt pose. "Ryohei-san is funny."

"Stupid, Konohamaru, it's stupid." Naruto corrected with a smirk.

"Oi, that very unextreme of you!" Ryohei shouted in offense raising his bandaged fists in challenge.

"Maa, calm down you two." Takeshi said raising both of his hands before the situation got worse.

"Ne, Naruto." Tsuna began, grabbing the attention of the group. "What's Konohamaru's relation with Bee-san?"

"Ah, Konohamaru is Bee-san's ward and apprentice." Naruto explained with another ruffle on the boy's hair.

"Oh, is he-?"

"No, no." The blond interrupted before the word left Tsuna's mouth. "The kid has some family problems back home and his parents decided to let a family friend take care of him for a moment, dattebayo."

"Are you two the only student's here?" Takeshi asked as he spared a glance at the gate and noticed that there wasn't any arrivals coming in.

"Of course not." Naruto answered. "Most students has part time jobs in the morning so they're scheduled in the afternoon, the rest will get here at nine."

"Eh, then why are we early?" Tsuna asked as he looked at his watch and saw that it just passed the eight o'clock mark.

"Ryohei and I had a deal remember?" Naruto asked back as he entered the dojo. "I'm just doing grass head a favor."

"Ah, right." Tsuna said as he and Takeshi watched the determine look their senior was wearing.

"Bring it to the extreme."

* * *

><p>The match was rather one sided if Tsuna admitted it bluntly, Naruto made the rules along with the explanation to the instructor why the he was dragged in the deal. The rules were similar with the challenge Ryohei had with Naruto with the exemption that a point will be earn if the fighters are either subdued or knocked flat on their backs three times, thirty minutes is the time limit.<p>

And the fight ended in five.

It was ridiculously short, with Bee -sporting his black tank top and a pair of white cotton pants- dodging the thrown punches with ease despite the speed of the punches on the first two minutes and each of the next three minutes were spent subduing the boxer or out balancing him.

After the fight, Bee began to shot off the errors the boxer did during their spar, surprisingly Ryohei took his lost calmly and nodded eagerly as Bee explained the whys and hows. The remaining of the twenty minutes were spent watching Bee give out instructions to the boxer along with some demonstrations, Naruto was unfortunately the one who was experimented on. And it seems that aside from Karate, the burly instructor also has mastery on different martial arts as he taught the boxer as if he was one.

By the time it reached nine o'clock the morning class students began to trickle in. Tsuna saw some unnamed familiar faces from school, while the rest varied in age raging from 10-30 years old. The amusing sight was, that nearly all of the student wore the biker jacket as they entered the dojo.

The class seemed to group randomly leaving Tsuna confused on where he would go.

"Tsuna." A high pitch voice called out and the brunet felt a tug on his borrowed attire, it was Konahamaru. "Group in belts." The boy said as he pointed at the white belt Tsuna wore.

Tsuna nodded in understanding and saw that the groups were indeed divided by belts. There were roughly thirty or more students in the dojo, five wore the blue belts, another five were sporting green, followed by four students who wore orange, six yellow ones and the largest group were the yellow belt which consisted of eight student, the remaining five wore white belts.

Tsuna saw his intended group and walked towards them. There was a pair of female raven haired twins, a familiar blue haired male teen with uniquely colored eyes, and the other two were elementary students.

Speaking of elementary, Tsuna was curious at what belt color Konohamaru and Naruto wore. His eyes wandered around the rather large room and saw Konohamaru being cuddled by a pair of females in the orange belt group. While Naruto was hanging out with Bee along with the blue belt group, the blond's dark brown belt felt out of place with the light colored ones.

"Has everybody grouped already?" It seems the man's verbal ticks wore off when in teaching mode, the class called out their agreement some waved cheerily at the white haired instructor. "You know the drills! Line up and get ready!"

Or not.

The mass of students clustered around with their members in a circle and began the tedious process of warm up. Tsuna watched the sight and idly noted that the class was lax as some of them have small talks with each other, it gave the room a welcoming background noise.

"Whites come with me." Naruto announced getting the attention of the group.

"Hai Naruto-sempai!" The younger students cheered as they ran at the blond.

'Sempai?' Tsuna thought in surprise.

"Easy there Shinta, Saito." Naruto calmed the two elementary children as he ruffled their heads.

The group reached the corner and silently lined up horizontally to the wall, Tsuna felt lost and just copied what the others were doing.

"Okay, since we have a new student here. I'll repeat the intro." Naruto said, ignoring the silent groans from the twins. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, assistant instructor of the Hachiken Dojo. The rules in here are simple, warm up time and cool down is bonding time, that's thirty minutes, 'ttebayo. You're alowed to talk and joke with each other." the blond began. "Katas will be done in silence, not a peep nor sneeze will be heard, that's another one hour, those break this rule will be doing the cleaning duties. And the last hour is reserved for sparring and challenges."

"Hey, I thought that was for the yellow belts and up?" One of the girls questioned after she raised her hand.

"I was getting there Mozu." Naruto retorted and sighed. "Yes, as Mozu said, those rules are for the yellow belt and up. For beginners, like you six, will have a different schedule. First thirty minutes will be spent in lecture and the next hour and a half will be spent in endurance training. There will be a break for fifteen minutes and the rest of the time will be spent teaching you the basic katas. If there is anymore questions please just ask me or Bee-san."

Tsuna raised his hand in hesitation. "Naruto you're a sempai?"

"Ah...yeah I forgot to mention that one, heh." The blond replied earning curious glances from the group. "Nevermind, let's start with the lecture!"

"Yaay..." Mozu's twin unenthusiastically cheered.

"Oh, shut it Kiwi."

* * *

><p>That night, Tsuna came home with aching muscles and blooming bruises. But despite the pain the brunet held a full grin on his lips. He finally had an instructor, one that will push him to his limits and hopefully made him reach the potential that Ryohei told him in the past.<p>

It was a mystery why he was not contented with just Ryohei's teaching, there's something inside of him that he cannot explain was pushing him to find a better instructor to teach him. It had gone for a awhile until Naruto mentioned it one day and the feeling returned again, this time pushing towards the blond's suggestion. The feeling disappeared the moment he entered the dojo and now just hours later, it returned again, it kept him all throughout the night chasing away the much needed sleep his body wants.

There was an urge, a gentle nudge, a whispered warning...something will change...something will happen and Tsuna just hoped that it is a good thing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It has ended! I got a writer's block on this and I might get one on the 11th chapter seeing as I have no idea how to resolve Reborn's infiltration, so if you want to help me get over it, please put your thoughts, comments, suggestions and greetings below.<strong>

**Almost forgot, I'll welcome any corrections in the Karate part, since I have no idea how they have a class...**

**upnext: special chapter for the holidays~ **


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